The Price of a Soul
by EyeofAmethyst07
Summary: The legendary council is at its worst as Latios' death is mourned. Now he's trapped in Turnback Cave with none other than Giratina herself, while his sister is sentenced to be guarded by the most unlikely of legends. The Lati siblings are now forced to adapt to their new caretakers, and it can only go downhill from here... right? An R.W. Yang novel. TEMPORARY HIATUS.
1. Welcome to Turnback

**A/N-** **Hallo, peoples! EyeofAmethyst07 here, back with yet** _ **another story.**_

… **do I have explaining to do? Yeah. I do.**

 **My school life has kind of eaten up my spare time, so** _ **Colligate Life**_ **and** _ **Monster**_ **productions have more or less hit a wall. However, if you took my advice and read my bio, this shouldn't be a shock! Hopefully, this story should get my creative juices going…**

 **Anyway, this story was inspired partly by** _ **Requiem for the Living**_ **by Saf Dawnheart and the song** _ **Bleeding Out**_ **by Imagine Dragons. I don't own either the story or the song, but I felt like credit should be given to them for inspiration.**

 **This story will mostly revolve around Giratina and Latios, but I couldn't resist throwing in a little Kyurem/Latias. (Weird pairing, I know, but I was kind of sick with all of the Latias/Rayquaza fics).**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own Pokémon. I think that's pretty obvious.**

 **So… *Turns off lights, sits in dark corner, shines flashlight under chin.***

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

The Price of a Soul: Chapter 1

"Quiet, everyone."

Arceus' voice traveled over the hall somberly, and the nervous chatter that had been going on stopped immediately. All legendaries returned to their council seats and turned their heads to their leader.

Arceus sighed quietly. "I will do away with formalities." he said dully. "You all know why I called us here today." No legend spoke out, which only served as confirmation for the Alpha Pokémon.

"As we all know," he continued. "Just yesterday, Latios, one of our own, passed…" Arceus bowed his head slightly, then brought it back up in determination of sorts. "Screw it." said the Normal-type. "Latios has died."

This blunt comment brought mixed reactions from the legendaries. Darkrai raised an eyebrow at the Alpha's odd word choice, Rayquaza huffed indifferently, Kyogre glared at Groudon, and Latias broke into tears, leaning over to cry on Cresselia's shoulder. Arceus sighed once again.

"This is certainly a dark day for us all." said Arceus. "We can only hope that Latios has found peace."

" _ **You can only hope, is that right?"**_

Every legend was immediately on high alert. Heads of all shapes and sizes looked frantically around the Hall of Origin, looking for the speaker. Suddenly, at the end of the table opposite to Arceus, A serpentine grey dragon rose from a deep purple portal in the ground. Giratina's golden mask gleamed darkly as her six massive feet landed on the solid marble tile.

"You could just ask nicely." said the Distortion Queen, with a hint of smugness lining her words. As murmurs spread across the table, Arceus lightly tapped the tile with his front leg, asking for silence. "I take it Latios has arrived at Turnback Cave?" he asked formally, locking his emerald eyes with her own wine-colored ones.

Giratina smirked under her mask. "I've yet to check." she said smoothly. "I've been in the Distortion for the past few minutes, listening in on a few… lunar Pokémon." Every head turned towards Darkrai and Cresselia, who were suddenly red-faced and _very_ interestedin the tile floor. Giratina's smirk widened slightly. _Mew will never let those two hear the end of this,_ she thought.

Arceus sighed for the fourth time in as many minutes. "Can you please focus on the problem at hand, Giratina?" he asked. Giratina's smirk faded, and she raised her eyebrow in compensation. "Why?" she asked. "It's not my problem."

Latias broke down at hearing these words. Any legend that wasn't comforting the red eon dragon was glaring at Giratina, who evenly returned the stares. Arceus slammed his leg on the tile this time, bringing order to the council. "Actually," said the Normal-type. "It is."

Giratina's haughty expression faltered. "What?" she asked, slight annoyance evident in her voice. Arceus straightened officially. "I'm making it your problem." he said. "You are hereby confined to Turnback Cave and the Distortion as to watch over Latios and ensure his security in the afterlife."

Giratina snarled, and the threatening noise effectively echoed off the white walls. " _What?"_ she asked again, anger evident in her tone. "You know I'm the dragon of Anti-matter, not death." she said. Arceus raised one of his own eyebrows this time. "Yes, I acknowledge that." he said. "But Turnback is a passage to the deeper parts of the Underworld. You can intercept Latios there."

Giratina growled. "How long are you putting me on babysitting duty?" she asked stiffly. Every head turned to Arceus to hear the verdict.

"Indefinitely. Until otherwise decided."

Giratina kept her composure devoid of any emotion. "As you wish, great Arceus." she spat. With that, Giratina morphed into her Origin Forme and dove headfirst into the ground, disappearing into the nether.

Arceus sighed slightly in relief. "That bring us to another problem." continued the Alpha. "Latias by herself cannot protect the Soul Dew in Alto Mare." Arceus turned to address Rayquaza. "Rayquaza, you will be assigned to guard the Soul Dew until another solution can be found."

Rayquaza nodded slightly, and this drew snickers from some of the more immature legends. Everyone on the council was aware of Rayquaza's feelings of affection towards Latias, except for Latias herself, who remained oblivious.

Arceus caught these reactions. "That's not all." he said. "For better protection, Latias will be housed with another legendary _outside_ of Alto Mare." Rayquaza whipped his head to face the Alpha. "What?" he growled. "Who is she staying with?"

Arceus pointed at a grey legend at the far end of the table. "Kyurem." he said tersely. Murmurs of uneasiness spread across the legends of the council as Kyurem's golden eyes widened. "Come again?" he asked.

"Latias needs to stay with an isolated legend." replied Arceus. "Your home in the Giant Chasm is perfect, because the humans are mortally terrified of you. She will not be disturbed there."

Rayquaza slammed a small green fist on the table, making everyone jump. "That's ridiculous!" he shouted. "Her life will be a living hell with him! Latias needs to be comforted, not shoved into the smallest, coldest corner of the world!"

Kyurem glared at the Sky High Pokémon evenly. "Would it not be the same living with you?" he asked nonchalantly. "If you have a problem with it, we can always settle things after the meeting." Rayquaza opened his thin mouth to snap back, but someone else beat him to the punch.

"Stop."

Both male legends turned to face Latias. "What?" they both said simultaneously. Latias rose from her seat on the council and floated in between the quarrelling legendaries. The remaining eon dragon steadily met the gazes of each and every legend.

"I'm stronger than you guys give me credit for." she said shakily. "I'll stay with Kyurem, because I trust Arceus to make the right choice for us all. If he believes the best thing for me is to stay in Giant Chasm…" Latias bowed her head slightly. "…then that's what I'll do."

Silence dominated the council chamber. Latias was not known for her courage, more for her ability to stay lighthearted no matter the dilemma. Standing up to two of the most powerful council members was something that was expected of Arceus or Giratina, not Latias.

Latias hung her head low and floated towards the exit. "I'll make my way to Giant Chasm." she said somberly. As a few of her friends attempted pursuit, she waved them off. "I know the way to Unova." she told them. "Stay here. You guys probably have a lot more to talk about."

With those words, the red eon dragon floated out of the council chamber, the heavy golden doors closing with a fateful _THUMP._ All eyes turned to Arceus, who blinked. "Ok." he said simply. "Well, I actually don't have any other life-changing announcements to make. You are all free to go."

As the assembled legends began to disband, he noticed Cresselia and Mespirit rushing towards the door. Arceus teleported himself directly in front of them, blocking the way out. "Do not visit Latias." he said officially. "She needs time to let the impact of this decision sink in." Mespirit flew up to the Alpha's eye level. Anger laced her eyes, an emotion that was usually coupled with her hot-head counterpart Azelf.

"Why are you leaving her with that cold-hearted dragon?" she growled. "Rayquaza was right: she needs comfort and warmth, not indifference and cold." Arceus straightened and looked the Lake legend in the eye. "Latias will be fine." he reassured forcefully. "My decision to leave her with Kyurem was not just for her benefit." Cresselia tilted her head. "You mean Kyurem?" she asked. "How does this help him?"

Arceus smiled kindly and turned to the side, letting the Psychics by. "I believe that my justification will be revealed within its own time." he said wisely. "Just…trust in me, alright?" Both Psychics reluctantly nodded through the doors, following the other departing legends. Arceus returned to his seat just as the last legends closed the door behind themselves. Arceus sighed in relief. Then he cocked his head to the side as if listening for something. "You wish to speak with me, Giratina?" A soft, malicious voice came from behind him and said;

"What do you think?"

Arceus watched with his eyes as the Renegade stomped into his field of vision. Her wine-colored eyes reflected anger, but her expression was the same as always. "Why force me to do this?" she asked. "It has no point. Latios is powerful enough, even in death, to take care of himself." Arceus shook his white head. "That is true when he is of sound mind." he said simply. "But Latios is most likely unaware of his own death at this point. When he discovers that seeing his sister again will be impossible, his mind will near breaking point. I need you there to tip it over to the side of sanity."

Giratina snorted. "And you trust me to keep him sane?" Arceus narrowed his eyes. "Yes." he said. "Now, go. I have no doubt that Latios has reached his destination." A purple portal opened at Giratina's feet, and she began to sink through. Before she went entirely, she left a parting comment.

"He's not in heaven, you know. I'll treat him accordingly."

As the Distortion Queen sank through the floor, Arceus sighed to himself. "I know that, Giratina." he said to nobody. "That's why I'm sending you, not me."

/-\\-/-\

White.

That's all he was able to see. A bright, blinding white light. It called to him, oddly enough. Like it wanted him to see what was beyond it. As he hovered closer, he had a thought. _What about Latias? Should I bring her?_ He shook the notion off and continued his forward journey. _I told Latias I'll be back,_ he thought, _I'll just take a quick look around, and then I'll go back._

Suddenly, a sharp pain flared through his chest. He looked down at his azure fur, and he noticed it was turning red. _What is happening?_

Then everything turned black, and Latios slipped into unconsciousness. Or, perhaps more accurately, death.

…

Darkness.

That's all Latios could see _now._ He turned his head from side to side, trying to identify where he was. It appeared that he was in a dark cavern, in a rough square shape. Thick fog swept over the rocky floor, moving along with a wind that didn't exist. Latios squinted, and he thought he could see three doors, each on a separate cavern wall, except for the one behind him. In the center of the cavern he was in, a massive pillar of grey stone towered over him. At the top, there was a number one. At the base, there was a number 37.

 _What is this place?_ thought Latios. _How do I get out of here? Latias is probably waiting for me._

Then, the fog began to swirl around Latios, and he could hear eerie hissing noises. If he looked hard enough, he could make out shadows moving through the fog. "Who's there?" he asked, preparing to attack if whatever was hiding was hostile. "Show yourself, before I have to!"

A sharp, choppy noise made its way to Latios' ears: only later would he realize that this was a chuckle. A wedge of uneasiness settled into Latios' chest. Suddenly, voices whispered to him from the depths of the fog.

" _Another fallen god."_ they whispered amongst themselves. _"We should bring him to the master."_

" _No."_ said another voice. _"This one is not ready to see him yet. He has yet to realize his own predicament."_

"Show yourselves!" demanded Latios. "What is my predicament?" The voices chuckled amongst themselves. _"The master will not want us to show ourselves."_ said a voice.

" _We will be brief."_ said the second. _"It will not bring harm to us if we simply tell him."_ Latios' chest panged with something that felt like fear. "Tell me what?" he snapped at the fog. Suddenly, like someone had turned on a giant fan, the fog dispersed, leaving only two Pokémon standing in front of Latios. One was a massive Raticate, bigger than any he'd ever seen before. The other was a graceful Volcarona, its four orange wings beating gently. Then Latios noticed something odd, and he felt his body go cold.

 _They're see through._

Both Pokémon that stood before him were a translucent grey, with only hints of their true colors showing. The fog seemed to roll straight through their spectral forms, and they flickered oddly from time to time. Latios hovered backwards uneasily. "What are you?" he asked, the smallest sliver of fear working its way into his voice. The Raticate chuckled coldly. _"I am simply a Raticate, and she only a Volcarona."_ Before Latios could say anything the Volcarona spoke.

" _We are remnants."_ she said. _"Fragments of times and memories past."_ Latios narrowed his eyes. "Where am I?" he asked. The Volcarona was opening its mouth to answer, but her Raticate companion beat her to it. _"We are in Turnback Cave."_ said the Raticate quickly. _"And you are dead."_ Latios hovered backwards until he hit the dark rocky wall. _Dead?_ he thought worriedly. _How is that possible?_ Then a thought crossed his mind, and the thick fist of fear wrapped around his throat.

 _Will I ever get to see Latias again?_ he thought. _How can I live without her?_ "That's impossible." he said aloud. "How am I still here talking to you?" The Raticate laughed while the Volcarona flared its wings.

" _I apologize for my companion's bluntness."_ she said stiffly, like this was common. _"But I cannot deny the truth in his words. You have passed, Latios, from the world above."_ Latios pushed against the rock behind him with more force. "What?" he sputtered weakly. "I can't—then that means—but I-."

" _Have you left someone?"_

Two pairs of eyes turned to face the Raticate, who had apparently finished his laughing fit. "What? asked Latios again. _"Have you left someone behind in the upper world?"_ asked the Raticate somberly, as If he could somehow share in Latios' pain. "Yes." he said reluctantly. "My sister."

Both spirits nodded slowly, and they shared a meaningful look. The Volcarona nodded, and the Raticate sighed in response. _"We know of your pain."_ said the Raticate. _"We both perished in battle, and by doing so, left behind our trainers…"_

Latios' fear of abandonment was partially replaced by curiosity. "You both died while battling?" he asked. The Raticate nodded slowly, while the Volcarona simply hung her head low. _"Yes."_ said the Raticate. _"My trainer and I battled a particularly tough opponent. At the battle's end, my wounds were too great, and… we did not reach the Pokémon Center in time."_ the Raticate trailed off, apparently lost in memory. Latios couldn't fathom what he'd been told. He had heard of Pokémon fainting at the ends of battles, but… never _dying._ _Is the world really that cruel?_ he wondered. _The one thing Pokémon can do, and it kills us?_

Then the Raticate let out a hoarse chuckle. _"It's slightly ironic, as well."_ he said bitterly. _"The opposing trainer went on to be the Champion eventually."_ The Volcarona gave a single, short chuckle. _"My ending was not near as dramatic as that."_ she said. _"I was poisoned in an intense battle, and when I was given Pecha berries to eat, the poison worsened."_ The Volcaronaturned her head sideways. _"I died in my trainer's arms."_ she said hoarsely. _"After all we had been through together: ever since my hatching as a Larvesta, our journey was to end simply because I was not strong enough."_

Latios let the stories sink in. _Is that going to be me in a few months?_ he wondered. _A wandering soul who mourns his past?_ Latios remembered something suddenly. "Can I see your master?" he asked. Both spirits glanced at each other briefly, and a thought flashed through Latios' mind. _What else have those two gone through?_ he wondered. _They look close to one another._

" _I suppose that would be the best thing to do."_ said the Volcarona softly. _"He will probably want to see you."_ Latios was about to ask for directions before he noticed a towering shadow forming behind the two spirits. A vicious voice filled the chamber.

"Why do I get the feeling that when you say 'master'," said Giratina coldly. "You're not talking about me?"

 **E/N- Dun, dun, dun! And a wild Giratina appeared! I hope this was a good start to the fic! The Raticate and Volcarona are important to the story and will come back. And if anyone can leave a review telling me who their trainers were… I'll be very impressed to say the least!**

 **Also, I feel like I need to say something. Although I leave a standard "warning" at the end of all my stories, that's no reason not to leave a review. Believe it or not, I NEED THE ADVICE! Tell me how I'm doing, please! So, with that in mind…**

 **Favorite, Follow, and Review… AT YOUR OWN RISK! :) :) :)**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


	2. Psychic Patriotism

**A/N- Hello again! I hope you're all ready for Chapter Two… After a month's wait…**

 **I have no excuse for my tardiness. I never was able to transfer my ideas into the story effectively until now. But, as you hopefully see by now, I've managed it!**

 **This chapter will have more Kyurem/Latias than the first (considering how Kyurem only had two lines). Hopefully this works out… I have high hopes, though!**

 **Also, congratulations to** _ **November Red Angel**_ **and** _ **Forestfleet**_ **for correctly guessing the identities of the specters! They are in fact Blue's Raticate and Alder's Volcarona! This was an aspect of the game that I noticed not many people took advantage of, and seeing how Volcarona is my favorite Bug-Type, I thought it was a good idea to include them in the story.**

 **Once again… please leave me a review! Even just a passing 'good job' will be appreciated.**

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

The Price of a Soul: Chapter 2

Giratina watched with slight smugness as two of the three spirits before her cowered slightly. Raticate immediately hunched over, but Volcarona did not move an inch, with only a hard gleam coming to her eyes. Giratina narrowed her own eyes at this. _She's always been the more confident of the two._

" _Who else could we be talking about?"_ asked Volcarona evenly, betraying no emotion in her words. _"You are the only ruler of Turnback."_

"You flatter me with your lies." said Giratina. "But you and I both know who you mean." Raticate chose this moment to step forward. _"What choice do we have?"_ he said honestly. _"None of the spirits can match his strength, and the only reason we are still here is because we are somehow useful to him."_ Giratina snorted.

"Then you are only obeying him to survive." she said, layers of danger coating her words. "And I should make it obvious that I am _much_ stronger than he is. I am the one to be feared, not him." Giratina raised her shadowy wings threateningly, but the spirit who had yet to speak did so at that moment.

"Who are you even talking about?" asked Latios honestly. Giratina turned her head to face the deceased eon dragon. _Well,_ she thought. _I guess he did make it to Turnback._ Giratina remembered her last words to Arceus before she left to check her cave.

 _He's not in heaven, you know. I'll treat him accordingly._

"This is none of your concern." said Giratina coldly, glaring at the much shorter former-legend with contempt. Then she turned back to the other two spirits. "I've trusted you two for quite some time now." she said. "I've let you both have the privilege of remaining here in Turnback with me instead of pushing you on to hell." Raticate flinched at these words, but Volcarona floated forward slightly, blocking the Distortion Queen's view of the other spirit. _Interesting,_ she thought. _I knew that would happen eventually…_

" _We have never crossed you."_ Volcarona hissed. _"But you know as well as we do that he controls us. Do you not remember who we were in life? This is not something we have chosen for ourselves."_ Giratina realized that the Fire/Bug type was right, but she couldn't allow any form of weakness to be shown in front of the spirits. Rebellions tended to follow shortly.

"I suggest you find a way to separate yourselves from him as soon as possible." Giratina said coldly. "If he has a problem with it, he can come to me himself and complain. Now leave us." With a wave of her shadowy wings, Volcarona and Raticate dispersed, retreating into the depths of Turnback Cave, leaving one spirit behind.

Giratina turned away and began stomping towards one of the doorways. "Hey, wait up!" Latios said. "I think you owe me an explanation for this." Giratina didn't turn back (get it?) as she answered the eon dragon.

"I owe you nothing." she said evenly. "Arceus assigned me to watch over you in death, but I honestly don't see the need to. Get around by yourself." Latios floated hastily in front of Giratina to stop her progress, and the Distortion Queen snarled. A flicker of annoyance crossed her face before she raised her wings threateningly.

"What if Arceus finds out?" asked Latios smartly, a victorious look of smugness making its way across his pale face. Giratina resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _What a moron._ She instead decided to lean over and growl five inches from his face. The Psychic type backed up slightly, which Giratina found amusing.

"Who's going to tell him that I'm not doing my job? You?" she asked grimly. Giratina pushed past the former legend that was less than a third of her height. "Besides, it wouldn't be much of a culture shock for the almighty lord of all, would it?" Just before she passed under the archway, Latios made one last desperate attempt to stop her.

"You're just going to leave me here?" he asked. "That's so _childish,_ Giratina." The anti-matter dragon stopped dead in her tracks, eye twitching. _Arceus curse him,_ she thought. If it was one thing Giratina couldn't stand, it was an insult to her pride. The last legend to insult her pride had been Darkrai, thousands of years ago at a legendary meeting. Ever wonder why he only had one eye? Now you know.

Giratina turned her head slightly to glance at Latios. "If you can find my chambers, I'll consider watching over you." she said. "Pass all three pillars, and the next room should be your last." Latios tilted his head, confused. "What if I can't find it soon enough?" he asked, with a satisfying tinge of fear in his voice. Giratina smirked as she walked through the doorway. "I suggest you don't get lost." she said. "The spirits are rather…unfriendly to newcomers."

With that, Giratina walked through the tunnel, leaving Latios alone in the vast expanse of her domain.

/-\\-/-\

"Are you-?"

"Yes."

"Really? Because you kind of look-."

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Yes. Quit asking me questions."

"But you never even let me-."

"Exactly. Stop asking questions and just be quiet."

Latias raised both of her eyebrows and moved her neck back, as if the Ice legend in front of her disgusted her. Which, in all honesty, wasn't too far from the truth.

"Sorry for having a talkative nature, Kyurem." said the eon dragon, not sounding the slightest bit sorry. "I just wanted to say something after _two hours_ of silence." Kyurem turned his head to give the red dragon that floated behind him a sideways glare.

Latias looked like she was trying to appear defiant, crossing her arms and turning her head away indignantly. But Kyurem still found it hard to take her seriously. _Someone_ _must be very grumpy today,_ Kyurem thought.

"I'm not the only grumpy one here, Kyurem."

Kyurem snapped his grey head up to meet Latias' glare. _Not possible,_ Kyurem thought.

"Very possible, Kyurem."

The Ice legend was taken aback. He didn't know what Latias was doing, but there was one way he could find out. Kyurem held the eon dragon's glare evenly. Without looking away, he thought, _Achoo._

"Arceus bless you. But he probably won't."

Kyurem took an unconscious step back. "How are seeing inside my head?" he asked. Latias raised an eyebrow and tapped her skull. "Psychic Type?" she said. "Duh." Kyurem growled and turned around. "Just be quiet and stay out of my head." he said. Latias hovered around so she could look Kyurem sternly in the eye.

"I can't rummage around in your skull and find your embarrassing secrets." she said matter-of-factly. "Only what you're think about at this exact moment."

 _Like about how annoying you're being right now?_

"Yes."

Kyurem gave a long, drawn-out sigh. He grumpily stomped to the back of the cave, heading to the deeper areas. Latias indignantly hovered in front of him.

"Hey!" she said, making sure to bop him on the head as she passed him, before turning around. Her usually bright and playful eyes reflected annoyance and disgust. "Listen, just because Arceus assigned me to you against your will doesn't mean you get to treat me like trash. You're here to keep me safe."

Kyurem snarled and pushed by the small dragon. "What happened to the smiley little red dragon you used to be?" he snapped. "What ticked you off so much?"

"You." Latias said coldly, and Kyurem stopped dead in his tracks. "You snap at me, you growl at me, you push me out of the way, and for what? Because I'm asking simple questions?" Latias floated in front of the stopped legend, and her eyes bored holes into his skull. If Kyurem told any other legend about what was going on in the cave at that moment, they would have simply laughed at him. Latias was reading him the riot act.

"You corrupt me, Kyurem." she said, her voice starting to take on an edge colder than his insides. "When I pass someone during a meeting, I can't help but smile. I know that everyone, even Giratina, has a chink in their armor. They all have, in the deepest recess of their heads, a light. But when I look at you…"

Latias paused, and her eyes softened for a split second. Did she look pitiful? Worried? Or was she only putting up yet another front?

"I don't see anything." she finished. "You're cold, Kyurem, and that rubs off on anyone. Even me."

Kyurem was speechless. He knew he was indifferent. Cold. Generally unhappy. But to have someone- _Latias,_ of all Pokémon-tell him that he was a heartless void who didn't even have a nice side: that effectively slapped him in his frozen face. He felt something in his chest at that moment: it tore at his lungs, shallowing his breath. It dumped a weight of fifty Mamoswine on his chest at once, making him feel hopeless.

 _What is this feeling?_ Kyurem thought. _This feels so horrible._ The Ice legend turned and angrily stomped into the inner-most cave, and before the smaller legend could follow, he froze the entrance over with a thick sheet of ice.

"Hey!" said Latias indignantly, her voice slightly muffled from the ice barrier between them. "Don't just leave me out here, you frozen coward!" she said. "I'm not finished with you!"

Kyurem curled up on the frost-riddled floor, huffing as he did so. "I am!" he shouted back. "Go to sleep and leave me alone!"

"It's not even dark out!"

"Then just leave me alone!"

"It's _cold_ out here!"

"Suck it up! You're a legendary!"

"And if I freeze my wings off?"

"Ask Arceus for some more!"

"What if I feel like singing all night?"

That one gave Kyurem pause. "What?"

"OH-oh say-can-you-SEEEEEEEE!"

Kyurem immediately cringed, as Latias' incredibly uncharacteristic, horrible raspy voice rang throughout the cavern. The female legends had once hosted a karaoke session in the Hall of Origin, bringing in an impressive turnout from the legends. However, the _next_ time they tried to bring them in… there were a lot less attenders. For reasons involving certain a small red Eon dragon's voice.

"By the dawn's EAR-ly LIIIIGHT!"

"Shut it! Leave me alone!" Kyurem roared at the ice, trying to purge ringing from his ears.

"What so PROUUD-ly we HAAAAAILED!"

Kyurem growled, and he felt a deep throbbing of energy building up in his throat.

"At the TWI-LIGHT'S last GLEA-MING!"

Kyurem rose to stand on his hind legs, a deep purple light glowing from his gaping maw. "SHUT IT!" he roared, launching a devastating Dragon Pulse at the frozen doorway in the process, causing it to shatter loudly.

There was no reply from Latias.

Kyurem stared at the smoking doorway, seething, waiting for a small white head to make itself known in his vision. But the small eon sister never reappeared.

Turning in a small circle, Kyurem curled back up on the cold floor, muttering to himself about annoying little dragons. Finally, Latias left his mind and he peacefully closed his eyes. He had just started to drift off when a soft whisper came from behind him.

"Whose broad stripes and bright staaaaars…"

Kyurem's eyes snapped open and he whirled his long neck around to glare behind him. He saw Latias curled up there, head on the cold stone, eyes closed peacefully. She looked so innocent-and, Arceus forbid him ever thinking it, _cute_ -that Kyurem almost was able to forgive her for being a complete and utter nuisance.

Almost.

Kyurem growled at the resting dragon softly, as if trying to intimidate her and be quiet at the same time. "Get out of here, Latias." he said. "I don't want you near me."

"Tough." she said without opening her eyes. "Because I want to stay here close to you. If you don't like it, you can leave." Kyurem opened his mouth to snap back, but he found himself unable to reply. _She_ wants _to be close to me?_ he wondered. _Why?_

"Close your gaping mouth, Kyurem." she said. "Good night."

Kyurem turned his body so he lay down facing Latias. He sighed deeply, letting his body relax. As he closed his eyes, he exhaled deeply, and with that breath he muttered; "Good night."

The Ice-hearted Unovan legend of boundaries fell asleep before he saw the small protector of Alto Mare open her eyes, smile warmly, then close them again.

/-\\-/-\

 _Overconfident basilisk. What did I ever do to her?_

Latios wandered around the depths of Turnback aimlessly, trying to find his way to Giratina's cave. However, the journey was just as hard as Giratina had promised: and just as complicated. The very next room he'd moved into had the second pillar, but the third was still elusive. Latios had passed through at least fifteen more rooms, and he still hadn't seen the third pillar.

As Latios floated along, he felt something tear open his chest for the ten millionth time that day. _I can't actually be dead._

Although he knew there was no other possible alternative, Latios couldn't stop the shock. _I can't be dead. I would never leave Latias alone up there._ Latios had only loved one thing while he was alive: and that was his sister. Of course, he enjoyed other things too. He liked sparring with Zekrom every week, or taking the occasional break with Uxie in the library, but his little red sister had been the only thing he really looked forward to seeing on a daily basis.

Latios also needed to protect her. There were several dangers that came from the outside world, and being the twin protectors of Alto Mare meant putting themselves in front of said danger. Of course, Latias wasn't a weak little girl, she was a legendary. But there were limits to what even legends could do in battle. And in other aspects of life….

Latios growled to himself as he turned right and floated into yet another chamber. His line of thought had brought him back to the current bane of his life: Giratina.

 _Snarky little snake._

Latios had known from the Distortion Queen's low attendance to legendary meetings that she didn't care about much more than herself. But Latios took it as a personal insult that she had left him to rot in her tunnels. _If Giratina will ever change, ever show any form of sympathy, empathy, or Arceus forbid love,_ thought Latios to no one. _Then give me some sign right now. Bang the idea in my head._

As Latios continued to float his way down the fog riddled tunnels, he braced himself for any sudden impact, bowing his head slightly. Nothing happened. As he lifted his head and continued to float forward, he glanced behind him quickly, stifling a chuckle. _Well I'll be,_ he thought. _Apparently even the universe thinks Giratina is fated to remain heartless._

 _WHACK!_

Latios' claw immediately went to his head, which was reeling in pain. _Okay,_ he thought. _That one doesn't count._ The eon legend glanced ahead. _What did I even hit?_

Dead in front of Latios was tall white stone with two numbers on it. The topmost read _3._ The bottommost read _50._

He'd found the final pillar.

/-\\-/-\

 **There's Chapter Two for you! Again, sorry for the long wait, but I hope the chapter made up for it!**

 **Hopefully you enjoyed the Kyurem-Latias dynamic! I enjoy writing about two personalities that just bounce off each other, and having the almighty legend of Ice being put off so easily by the little protector of Alto Mare is something that I find** _ **extremely**_ **amusing.**

 **Also, small favor, but could somebody check out my newest story, _At Least, I Hope_ and tell me what you think? It's been up for a while and I want to make sure I'm not writing Chapter Two for nothing...**

 **Favorite, Follow, and Review… AT YOUR OWN RISK! :) :) :)**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


	3. The Specter

**A/N- Hello! I hope by now you know my name…**

 **Here comes Chapter 3! Hopefully this shortened wait time is appreciated… I just hope I didn't rush things.**

 **And another thing… I would really like a few reviews on this story. No one outside of** _ **NRA**_ **and** _ **FF**_ **(Those are acronyms, btw) has left a review, and it kind of makes me worried! *hyperventilates***

 **So… Yeah, you know the drill. If you've forgotten, it'll be the second to last line of the End/Note.**

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

The Price of a Soul: Chapter 3

"Get up."

Kyurem nudged the form of the small eon dragon that lay asleep on the frost-ridden floor under his claws. Latias waved a small claw towards his leg, as if subconsciously trying to shoo him away. Kyurem growled. _I don't have time for this,_ he thought. _It's bad enough I got assigned to baby-sit this highly annoying, mopey ditz. But_ now _I've got to be her alarm clock?_

Kyurem growled again and stomped his foot down next to Latias' sleeping form. She only huffed and rolled over so her back was to the Ice legend. Kyurem grated his teeth and clenched his claws. _I can capture and fuse with my Fire-type counterpart, but I can't wake up a small Psychic type?_ "Oi, Latias." he said nudging her with his foot yet again. "We need to go. Get up." Latias huffed, and Kyurem swore he heard her mutter "Leemelone."

An idea came to the Boundary Pokémon, and he grinned deviously. _This will make up for her singing last night._ Kyurem opened his mouth and charged a very weak Glaciate attack. When he had enough, he sprayed the sub-zero frost in a tight circle around Latias' form. That way, even if she didn't roll over into the frigid ice, the radiant cold would surely wake her.

Almost immediately, it began to work. Kyurem's smile widened as he watched Latias' crimson brow furrow somewhat, and he noticed the beginnings of a shiver. The ice was sucking the warmth from the very air around the small legend, and it was making her miserable. Kyurem's smug smile faded as he noticed how miserable Latias truly was. Her entire body had almost shrunk in an attempt to stay warm. Her claws twitched outwards like she was trying to grab something and draw it close to her. Kyurem shook his head as he continued to watch.

 _I don't need to be concerned,_ he thought grumpily. _She's a mature legend, and she can live with being cold for a while._ Kyurem turned his gaze back to Latias just and time to hear a faint _whimper_ come from her. Kyurem flinched as a wave of guilt washed over to him. Anger quickly arose to challenge this foreign emotion. _Why are you feeling sorry for this brat?_ a harsh voice from inside him demanded. _She annoyed you all through last night, so she's getting what she deserves._ Despite the angry mental protests he was getting, Kyurem walked over to Latias and gently picked her up off the floor, being careful so as to not gouge her with a razor sharp claw.

Kyurem made ready to set her on the ground again when Latias gave yet another unconscious reaction to his many ill-fated attempts to wake her. Instead of curling up or whimpering, however, the red eon dragon sighed in what sounded like relief. Kyurem immediately froze, and he eyed the being in his arms anxiously. Latias' face was no longer contorted in discomfort; she almost looked relaxed. _How can anyone be relaxed in my presence?_ Kyurem wondered to himself. He flashed back to the night before when Latias had snuck in behind him after he'd blown up his front door.

" _Tough."_ she'd said. _"Because I want to stay here close to you."_ That single sentence was enough to give him pause. Just two minutes prior to that, Latias had told him he was a cold void who didn't even have a light side. So why in the world would anyone-especially _Latias,_ of any legendary-want to be near him. Now, here she was, curled up in his spindly arms. And… it made him feel warm. He knew it probably was just Latias' body heat, but he couldn't help but wonder if it was something else. He shook his head, trying to drive the idea from his head.

He had never really known anyone. Even his counterparts, Reshiram and Zekrom, weren't that close to him. And, in all honesty, he didn't mind being alone. He'd seen Rayquaza, how he'd projected the image of a ruthless loner. He'd _definitely_ seen how Giratina, even with three counterparts, and how she'd become a cold void that enjoyed other's suffering.

So of course, he thought, _What could go wrong with that?_

Kyurem immediately began making a name for himself as a cold legend. He refrained from talking to any legendary about anything that wasn't urgent. He started coming across as harsher in his word choice and tone. It wasn't easy at first. Kyurem was naturally a perky, hysterical dragon who lived for the next prank he could pull off. But nobody seemed to accept him that way. How could the intimidating Unovan legendary of Ice _ever_ be as immature as Mew? Why would anybody as powerful as Kyurem resign his strength to be a prankster? So he conformed. Eventually, his happy side (the one that had _enjoyed_ life, not lived it) faded away, and all that was left was an iced-over hole in his chest.

And that was how Kyurem lost himself.

* _yawn*_

Kyurem was roused from his thoughts when he heard a yawn come from below him. Looking down, he almost had a heart attack. Latias was still curled up in his arms, and her golden eyes were narrowed in tired, miniscule slits. "Good morning." Latias yawned softly, resting her head back on Kyurem's grey chest. "You can start. I'll catch up in a few minutes." Kyurem was unable to drop the small legend that he held. Instead, he blinked at the drowsy creature, confused by her words. "Um." he said. "Start what?"

Latias raised her small paws to her eyes and began to rub them. "Our morning fly." she said, voice still slurred from fatigue. "We always go out in the-." Latias cut herself off as she realized where exactly she was. She glanced at Kyurem's arms, then up at him. Her expression was an odd combination of confusion, tiredness, and… wistfulness. Kyurem stared back at the eon legend, not looking away from her golden eyes. Then she brought a claw to her snout and coughed into it.

Kyurem promptly dropped her.

Latias saved herself from hitting the ground as she started a hover. She seemed both unwilling and unable to look him in the eye. "Sorry about that." Latias said softly, rubbing her shoulders with her paws. "I'm-uh, I'm ready to go to the meeting now." She began to float towards the mouth of the cave, but Kyurem grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "Whoa, whoa, wait." he said. "What was that about? What were you talking about, flying?" Latias sighed and lowered her head. When she spoke, Kyurem could hear the strain in her voice, and he had to lean closer to hear her.

"I…I used to go flying every day, in the morning." Latias mumbled. "With… with…" she stopped for a minute, and Kyurem heard something he'd never thought he'd hear from Latias; a sniffle. Latias looked at her red paws dully, as if she was contemplating if they were really hers. "With Latios." she finished in a soft whisper, and her red head bowed even lower, if that was possible. Everything snapped in place immediately. _She thought she was waking up in Alto Mare next to Latios,_ he realized. _As if he hadn't even died._ Kyurem caught the forlorn look on the Psychic-type's face, and he felt an odd type of anger surge through him; it felt like resentment. _Then she gets all sad when she woke up next to_ me _instead._

"Oh, quit crying!" Kyurem snapped suddenly, and Latias' head slowly raised to meet his eyes. Her usually bright golden orbs were dulled and rimmed with red, but her expression was now one of disgust. _Lemme guess who it's directed at._

"Shut up, Ice block." Latias snapped back, slapping him across his frozen snout to add effect. Kyurem froze for a second as he processed what just happened, before he turned back around to face Latias.

"How about a little more respect, huh?"

"Like you ever gave me any when _my brother died._ "

"Suck it up. You're a legendary."

Latias turned her head to the side and cupped a claw around her ear. "What's that, ice block?"

Kyurem growled. "Call me that, _one_ more time."

"You want me to?"

"I _dare_ you."

"Ice block."

Kyurem advanced, determined to deal some damage to the little dragon in front of him, but he suddenly stopped short. He growled, and tried to summon the energy for a Dragon Pulse, but he couldn't move. It didn't take him too long to realize _why_ he couldn't move. Giving Latias one of the death glares he'd perfected over the millennia, Kyurem growled. "Let. Me. Go."

Latias simply held his glare, not flinching under the icy yellow gaze that had even managed to repel Rayquaza at times. "Not happening, Kyurem." She hovered up and forward, until her face was inches from his. Determined anger ruled the eon dragon's countenance, and her golden irises scanned him carefully. "I want you to listen to me, Kyurem." she said, and the Ice dragon rolled his eyes. Latias grabbed his snout with her soft paws and turned his head back around so he had no choice but to look at her.

"You're right."

Kyurem blinked. That was _not_ what he'd expected her to say. He expected something more along the lines of 'you condescending prick, why don't you feel anything?'. Or something.

"I am a legendary." Latias continued, bringing her paw down from his face. "In being one, I should never cry. I need to set an example for all of the mortal creatures on this earth, and mourning is not the ideal way to do that." If Kyurem were able to, he would have nodded in assent. _We are legendaries,_ he thought. _Emotion is beneath us._

"But I want you to think about something." Latias continued, bringing Kyurem from his thoughts. "I want you to imagine something. Just for a minute." Kyurem sighed, but didn't say anything against it. "I want you to imagine that you loved something more than anything else in the world." Kyurem rolled his eyes and scoffed. Latias tightened whatever Psychic bonds she held him with and Kyurem winced. "Imagine it." she said. "I will know if you're not doing it, Kyurem." The Ice legend sighed. _This is stupid, Latias,_ he thought to her.

 _So are your antics,_ she responded mentally. _Imagine it, or I'll squeeze your brain like a sponge._ Kyurem sighed and closed his eyes. _Who do I even know outside of the Hall of Origin?_ Kyurem thought to himself, although he knew Latias was still picking up on his thoughts. _I don't feel that close to Reshiram or Zekrom, my own counterparts._ Kyurem thought hard. Who did he care about, if anyone at all? He didn't look forward to seeing anyone. No one made him happy when he saw them. Incidentally, he opened his eyes and glanced up at Latias. She was staring at him oddly, tracing every bump and ridge on his snout, trying to read him. Suddenly her eyes widened slightly as she read a thought that passed through the Ice legend's head.

Kyurem blinked as he re-read the thought. Then he shook his head, clearing his mind completely. "This is stupid, Latias." he said finally. "Just let me go. We're going to be late to the meeting." Suddenly he felt his body released, and he lurched forward. Latias drifted back with slight amazement in her eyes. "Um… yeah." she said. "Let's go." Kyurem nodded, and followed the eon dragon outside the cave. As they took off to the sky, Kyurem couldn't help but remember Latias' odd request;

 _Imagine that you loved something more than anything else in the world._

As he watched the eon dragon in front of him, he realized what his answer was.

 _I can't imagine it._

/-\\-/-\

Giratina stomped around in her cave, awaiting the arrival of Latios. The more she thought about it, though, the more she was intrigued. Why had she agreed to watch over Latios? He certainly didn't need the protection. If a washed-up Raticate and young Volcarona could die, then come to Turnback and become two of the most powerful spirits there, then why couldn't Latios take care of himself? Giratina hummed in thought, still pacing around her private cave.

Come to think of it, why did _Arceus_ ask her to do that? If Giratina could think of these faults in a few minutes, how could the Almighty Alpha Pokémon not notice it after a day's thought? _Maybe he's finally gone senile,_ Giratina snickered to herself. Then she sighed, dragging a shadowy wing down the front of her face in annoyance. Arceus hadn't gone senile. However much Giratina dearly wished it, she had lived with Arceus for enough time before her banishment to know when the god was up to something. _That self-forsaken qilin is trying to set something up,_ she thought. _But what the heck is it?_ Giratina leaned backwards to sit on her haunches.

Arceus was a very shrewd Legendary. May a meeting, he had made decisions that had seemed completely random at times, but after the events unfolded, everyone else saw what he had been trying to do. _Like making Latias stay with Kyurem,_ Giratina remembered. _THAT one turned a few heads._ There was no doubt that Latias needed someone to look after her. Most legends Giratina had talked to (yes, she _did_ talk to other Pokémon. They just didn't always get along with her) believed that the best course of action would have been to send Rayquaza to Alto Mare to have the double duty of both watching over the Soul Dew and protecting Latias while she grieved. While the Sky High Pokémon wasn't the kindest or most open legend in the world, every council member knew that Rayquaza cared for Latias, no matter how many times he had to deny it.

 _Instead,_ Giratina thought, _She got holed up with the coldest, quite literally, of all the legendaries._ Giratina couldn't possibly imagine _what_ Arceus was thinking there. Maybe; _"Let's take the sweetest legendary ever, who's mourning her brother's death, rip her away from her home, and shove her into the deepest, coldest corner of the world with the most heartless legendary ever. That should turn out great!"_ Giratina scoffed. _The best that could happen is that Latias_ somehow _lightens him up,_ she thought to herself. _Although that's probably never going to happen anytime this millennia._

" _ **Contemplating life, Giratina?"**_

The Distortion Queen immediately stood and shifted to her Origin Forme, the golden mask along her snout closing completely. "Come to confess your sins?" she asked threateningly, turning in circles, trying to locate the speaker. The specter chuckled. _**"Depends."**_ it said. _**"How much time you got?"**_ Giratina snarled and charged a Shadow Ball in each tendril. "More than you."

The hidden specter laughed. " _ **Come, now."**_ it said. _**"You said that if I had a problem, I should come and complain to your face."**_ Giratina snarled, as she now had no doubt who this was. "I see that Volcarona and Raticate got to you, then." A faint, phantom-like shadow appeared against the far wall, and Giratina was instantly alert. She began to slowly make her way over to the wall, Shadow Balls ready. _**"Of course."**_ said the shadow. _**"I needed to express myself."**_ Giratina laughed, in spite of herself. "You've done that far too many times." she said. "And no matter how many times you have to come and lead a rebellion to my door, I will _not_ bring you back to life."

The specter growled. _**"The world owes me a second chance."**_ it said. Giratina snorted, still carefully advancing. "You know, Palkia and Dialga didn't really kill you." she said, knowing this would anger the specter. "You're still living up in the real world," As she predicted, the ghost snarled. _**"A false body."**_ it growled. _**"I was killed; dissolved, eviscerated, erased from the world. I died, Giratina."**_ The Distortion Queen sighed, and the Shadow Balls dissipated from her tendrils. _Here we go again,_ she thought. _**"Then, that Arceus-forsaken space buffoon Palkia decides I needed to come back. So, what happens as a result?"**_ The specter paused, and Giratina rolled her eyes and rubbed her temples with a tendril. "What happened?" she asked tiredly.

" _ **That overgrown wormhole-jumper screwed up my resurrection!"**_ the specter snapped back, answering his rhetorical question. _**"He**_ **tried** _ **to bring me back, sure, but he only took part of me."**_ Giratina froze mid eye-roll. _Never heard that part before._ "What?" she asked. The specter huffed. _**"You didn't know?"**_ it asked tauntingly. _**"When Palkia re-made me, he only took half of my soul. Did you ever realize that after the incidents at…**_ **there…** _ **that the upper world version of myself was suddenly nicer? Perhaps more friendly, or at least not as testy as before?"**_ Giratina nodded, now intrigued by the new angle on the specter's usually repetitive sob-story.

" _ **That was because, by some coincidence, the half of my soul that was used was the sentimental side of me. Well, as sentimental as you can get with me."**_ Giratina scoffed, but the specter was undaunted. _**"So you and the rest of the legendaries up in the Hall see my better side, my lighter side. None of you ever considered where the rest of me went, did you?"**_ Giratina charged up the Shadow Balls again. She saw where his little rant was going. _I just gave him a reason to kill me._

The shadow on the wall disappeared. Then, the voice of the specter sounded from behind Giratina. _**"I have to come back, Giratina."**_ said the specter. _**"I must find myself again, and complete this hole in my soul."**_ Giratina whirled around to face the specter. Due to his legendary status, he still had a few pigments of his former colors. A black body with ebony clawed hands floated a few feet off the ground, and a plume of white topped off the head. A dim cyan eye glared at her. _**"You can't stop me, Giratina."**_ said the ghost of Darkrai. _**"I will never go away."**_ Giratina smirked, and she prepared her tendrils for a battle. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

With those words, the Distortion Queen lashed out as the nightmare ghost fired twin orbs of darkness from his claws.

 **E/N- I know what some of you are thinking. "Darkrai isn't dead! He never died, and he was there at the meeting in the beginning of the story!"**

 **Yes, he was there at the meeting. But for anyone who's seen** _ **The Rise of Darkrai,**_ **they also know that Darkrai did at one point die. When Alamos was being disintegrated, Darkrai died when hit by simultaneous attacks from Palkia and Dialga. After the fight, when Ash and Co. ask Palkia to rebuild the town, it ended up reviving Darkrai, as you see him 'standing' atop a spire near the movie's end.**

 **I know, it's a technicality, but I really think that** _ **something**_ **had to have gone wrong when Palkia did that. Dead Pokémon, Giratina excluded, are something that I rarely see** _ **anyone**_ **take advantage of. I felt like I should at least try and test the public's suspension of disbelief.**

 **Also, I happen to really, really like technicalities.**

 **Hehe.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think about Darkrai's specter! Or anything else involving any of my stories!**

 **Favorite, Follow, and Review… Please?**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


	4. Cornered

**A/N- It's alive! ALIVE!**

 **Yes, I am still here. I'm SO SORRY I haven't updated, but I've been struggling with the monsters known as-**

 **MIDTERMS!**

 **Oh, the banes of my existence. So much energy got put into them my brain was turned to mush at the end of this week. However, midterms also mean WINTER BREAK! I plan on updating each story, this one included, once more before I return to (prison) school early January. :)**

 **Here comes Chapter 4!**

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

The Price of a Soul: Chapter 4

Latias flew through the air at speeds rivaling those of some human jets. The closer she got to the Hall of Origin, the faster the wind blew, blowing her red down back, caressing her streamlined form gently.

The wind was Latias' favorite part of flying. Her favorite time to fly was on autumn mornings, when grey clouds coated every corner of the sky. She never told anyone this, though. Due to her naturally perky personality, other Pokémon tended to think that her favorite weather was the classic stereotype; a cloudless, perfectly sunny day. While she did enjoy the times in the summer when Groudon's ability poked through, brisk, overcast autumn mornings were her true favorite.

This morning, on her journey to the Hall of Origin for the Meeting of Legends, was one such morning.

The cold air had a crispness to it that Latias could never describe. Breathing felt _right;_ more right than anything else in the world. The grey clouds added to this feeling; and although dark clouds were typically seen as depressing, Latias found a sort of peaceful solace in them. The sky did not look like an endless domain belonging to Rayquaza; instead it was a cover, a cool blanket that seemed to slow down time. The world was suspended, and Latias would not have had it any other way.

Perhaps, if time actually _did_ slow, she wouldn't be alone. She would still have her brother with her.

Latias felt tears well in her eyes. She knew wind was not the cause, and she did not slow down. Contrary to popular belief, however, Latias did not weep for her brother's death. Of course, there was the painful moment when his eyes closed for the final time. Then there were the subsequent days of sorrowful shock. But after that…

There was nothing. Latias no longer felt _anything_ towards her brother's death, and that scared her more than anything. She was his only sibling. They cared for each other, laughed with one another, cried next to, ate with, slept with, fought with, _loved_ one another. When a bond so strong is taken away… shouldn't there be more of a reaction? Shouldn't her spirit be shattered and soul torn into an empty void? Yet, Latias no longer felt sorrow. And that, to her, was scarier than Giratina's sins.

How could one move on from that? Shouldn't something like that scar someone for the rest of their lives, and leave them hollowed for the rest of eternity? Latias wept, not for her brother, but for herself. As selfish as that sounded, she was scared that she was becoming more like the loners of the council; cold, indifferent.

Unloved.

Latias slowed to a stop over the entry platform of the Hall of Origin. Her vision blurred slightly from the tears, and her breathing became ragged. Then;

"Quit crying, will you?"

Anger surged up within Latias, burning away the sorrow for a second. _Kyurem,_ she thought with disgust. _This is what I'm afraid of; ending up like_ him.

Latias whirled around to face the Ice legend, but before she could snap at him, Kyurem huffed.

"Get angry all you want," he said. "Just don't cry. I don't know what to do with you when you're sad."

Latias froze, half burned tears hanging from the corners of her eyes, mouth contorted into a scowl. _What is he talking about?_ she thought. _Why isn't he just snipping at me? This seems… halfhearted._ Given the previous night's antics (which, for the record, Latias did not regret), Latias expected Kyurem to be more pessimistic than this. He almost sounded concerned, but concern about anything besides pride was a concept so foreign of Kyurem that Latias simply pushed it aside. Then again, if he wasn't concerned… then what _was_ he?

Maybe it had something to do with the events from earlier that day. Latias had asked him what he cared about, and she got an odd, jumbled thought in response. Kyurem had cut off their mental connection before she could fully read it, but the waves of emotion that washed over her in the wake of said thought was enough to convince her of one thing;

He cared very deeply about _something._ And he would sacrifice himself for it. Now she just had to find out what, or even _who_ it was.

Kyurem huffed again. "Glad to see you can actually shut up for a few seconds," he said grumpily, stalking past her towards the entry doors.

 _Well, it's probably not me._

Latias scoffed indignantly and she dashed forward to catch up to her 'protector'.

"Glad to see you noticed," she snapped. "Buzz off."

Kyurem snorted as they approached the set of double golden doors marking the Hall's entrance. "Just try not to be too annoying during the meeting," he said.

Latias laughed aloud at this comment. "When have _I_ ever been annoying to you?"

Kyurem paused, glancing back at the small eon dragon. "Last night," he said. "I seem to recall a certain Legend singing a national anthem."

"I was patriotically inspired. Sue me."

Kyurem grumbled to himself as he pushed the right door open, stomping inside with a red dragon behind him, smiling innocently. "Let's just get this over with," he grumbled.

Latias couldn't resist twirling around the larger dragon and giggling, solely for the purpose of annoying him. "No legend meeting is ever harmless," she said lightly.

Kyurem stopped dead in his tracks so Latias bumped right into his chest. The brief contact sent a wave of warmth through her; which was odd, considering how Kyurem's innards were supposedly sub-zero in temperature. Kyurem glared down coldly at her, and Latias felt herself unable to move; the conflicting temperatures of his frigid gaze and warm skin left her paralyzed.

"I know that very well," he said in a tone that was just on the line between resigned and angry. His yellow gaze pinned her to the smooth tile floor with frozen restraints, better than any Psychic bonds she could conjure. "After all, I got put with _you_ in the last meeting."

Latias blinked, not sure whether to take that as an insult or to take it… completely differently. She heard no spite in his voice, nor annoyance. Instead, there was something else…

Kyurem huffed and pushed past her towards the meeting room of the Hall. "Come on," he said, not looking back at her. Latias simply gazed after him.

There was a dangerous undertone to his voice; almost like he was warning her not to try to read into his voice or expression. Of course, curiosity was one of Latias' defining qualities. Now confused beyond all belief, the red dragon floated after the Unovan legendary.

She quickened her pace until she was right next to him, but he still refused to meet her gaze. Latias put her paw on his still-moving shoulder as they reached the doors to the meeting room.

"You've got a funny way of doing things, you know that?" she asked.

Kyurem glanced down at her. "And you don't?" he asked. Latias stared up at him, meeting his gaze evenly. In doing so, something compelled her to smile wanly.

"I'm peculiar like that," she said, the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. A flicker of something passed over the Ice-type's face; then it was gone. Without knowing it, Latias tightened her grip on his shoulder as they continued to stare at each other.

Suddenly, the double doors to the meeting room swung open. Arceus stood in the doorway, and behind him sat the amassed council of legends, all heads turned in their direction.

Latias' paw disappeared from Kyurem's shoulder almost as fast as she could fly. As Kyurem raised an eyebrow bemusedly, the Alpha glanced down at them, no emotion betrayed through expression.

"So glad you two can join us," he said evenly. "We were just about to address your… arrangement."

Both legendaries glanced at each other. Latias didn't have to read Kyurem's mind to know what he was thinking;

 _Huh boy._

/-\\-/-\

Silence reigned supreme.

Deep within the heart of Turnback Cave, in Giratina's private residence, no sound was made. Latios swung his translucent head from side to side. _Okay, I made it past the three pillars,_ he thought. _Where's the Devil?_

As he scanned the cave, he noticed that Giratina's residence was somewhat different from the rest of Turnback. It had the thin layer of fog and deathly chill that was standard in the rest of the nightmarish labyrinth. However, the stone walls were smoother, and there were a few objects laying scattered around the vast cavern. Mirrors, large fifty-foot mirrors, lay flat on the ground and propped against the walls.

 _Huh,_ Latios thought with slight amusement. _I never took Giratina for vain. Wonder why she has all these mirrors…_

"Ugh."

Latios flinched at hearing a voice come from below him. Looking down, he stumbled back at seeing Giratina laying on the ground in her Altered Forme.

Her grey chest heaved as she lay on her side, and Latios noticed with a cringe the multiple wounds that bled from all parts of her body. Her crimson eyes were closed, and her face was contorted in pain, her mask unable to hide her expression for once. Several of plates of her gold armor were cracked and dented, and her ebony wings were tattered beyond belief. Something did this to Giratina, and Latios was fairly sure he wouldn't have wanted to meet it in Turnback, alone.

Latios felt a spark shoot off in his chest. He had the strangest desire to fawn over the death legendary in a manner much like that in which he treated Latias. An urge of protectiveness took hold of him fiercely. It grabbed hold of his lungs and refused to let go.

He found his spectral form dashing forward. "Giratina!" he said as he unfroze. "What-?"

"Rrrrrgggg…."

The passed eon dragon stopped dead three feet from Giratina's massive form as the Renegade snarled. Twin orbs of wine glared at him, overflowing with pain and anger. Her chest heaved roughly, and Latios could hear the sound of her full, heavy breathing.

"Don't-," sputtered the fallen Pokémon, rage thickly coating her words. "Take-one-more-step." For his own sake, Latios decided not to point out that he didn't actually _take_ steps; he floated. But, although she wouldn't have been able to do anything about it immediately, Latios knew she would eventually heal. _Then,_ he knew, he would be completely screwed.

Giratina exhaled roughly, the sound bordering between annoyed snort and resigned sigh. "What…?" A coughing fit overcame her, cutting her off. Latios risked inching forward slower than a Macargo.

"What happened to you?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper. For some reason, fear pumped madly through Latios' veins. He immediately assumed it was the cave's ambiance, but he still couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling that came with it. Maybe he was just cold. Yes, that had to be it.

Giratina glared at him, as if wondering why he'd bothered to speak at all. "What- _cough-_ what do _you_ care?" she snapped faintly. Latios blinked, just now asking himself that very same question. _Uh…,_ he thought. _How do I answer this without getting mauled?_

"I-uh…," Latios wrung his clawed hands together. Had he any living pores, they would have been producing insane quantities of sweat. Nevertheless, Latios unconsciously wiped his brow.

"You-you're supposed to be the indisputable ruler of Turnback," he said. Giratina's eyes flashed, and she exhaled in a violent huff. "I'm not challenging you!" he amended quickly. "It's just that- well, if anything can injure you _this_ bad…" Giratina's glare intensified, and Latios realized he was stepping on possibly the only thing that mattered to the spectral basilisk; her pride.

"I… I guess I was just wondering if you were okay."

He may as well have slapped Giratina in the face. Every part of her massive, wounded, bleeding body immediately froze. A flicker of something passed over the Renegade's face- was that _fear?-_ before disappearing.

All thoughts left the deceased eon's head as Giratina's body shifted. The basilisk slowly rose, her massive form looming over the specter. Her twin orbs of crimson wine tore into his head, and with her tattered wings and bloody scars, she looked more like a ruler of Hell than ever before.

" _What?!"_

Her voice exploded like lava from a volcano, blowing over the shorter legend. Latios shrunk back, the basilisk's breath washing over him and blowing his down back. It was strangely comforting, like a gust of life lost in a palace of death. _It kinda smells like that one purple flower in Alto Mare… nightshade._ Giratina thrust her head forward so they were face-to-face, and Latios had to tell himself to stop breathing in the flowery scent _right now, dang-it_ as the Renegade snarled down at him.

"Just _wondering_ if I was okay, is that right?!" she yelled, throwing his own words brutally back at him. " _Right_?" Latios could do nothing but nod fearfully.

"NO!" she practically screamed. "Not right! _Left!"_ Latios blinked, now completely lost.

"I don't need your _worrying!"_ she shouted. "I have enough to deal with around here without it! I don't _care_ if Arceus, his royal Llama-ness, assigned me to _you!_ You can get by just fine on your own."

Latios floated backwards, now scared witless. He suddenly found himself wondering if there was such a thing as dying twice in the same week.

Giratina let out a massive breath, her outburst obviously tiring her out. As she sat back on her haunches, Latios noticed a semi-formed scab on her neck, just under the middle armor plate. The movement from sitting caused the dented plate to tear open a new wound.

Obviously not expecting it, Giratina clutched her neck with a tattered wing, crying out in pain. The sharp movement caused another visible scab, this one on her shoulder, to tear open as well. With another cry, Giratina fell onto her side, the new wounds profusely bleeding once again. As if this wasn't enough, the force of her impact against the ground caused yet _another_ wound, this one on one of her powerful grey legs, to tear open. Giratina flinched silently this time, not making a sound, and she went completely still.

Everything was silent. Nothing moved except for Latios' hovering and the slow trickles of blood slipping out from the Renegade. Latios blinked, unsure if he should have started to laugh or if he should have floated away, whimpering. He was afraid that any movement on his part would trigger another rampage.

The way she had snapped at him… it was almost like she thought he was taunting her, or trying to trick her. All he had asked was if she was okay. Was that so out of place? After all his years of fussing over his sister, it had become second-nature for him to wonder about other's well-being. So why did Giratina, lying on the ground bloodied and bruised beyond all spectral belief, push away his help so quickly?

Latios floated forward in a wide circle, keeping his misty eyes firmly on Giratina's. Her crimson orbs had lost their rage, though. They were still dangerous, by every definition of the word. Any other creature meeting those eyes in the darkness of Turnback would have run away, screaming in absolute terror, fearing for their soul. But Latios found himself able to see past that. The danger in the Renegade's eyes was not that of a cunning predator; nor was it the glare of a feared demon.

It was instead the danger- or perhaps more accurately, the _fear-_ that belonged to a cornered animal.

Giratina looked scared for her life. Of course, had he told anyone this, they would have called him crazy. She wasn't _scared,_ she was _pissed._ Yet, as he looked into her harsh wine filled irises, he could see the immeasurable amounts of fear in them. The golden mask adorning her head no longer hid the truth; at least not from _him._ Latios steeled his nerves, and he neared the wounded legend.

The Ghost-type growled, shifting her head away slightly. "Get away, Latios," she growled, and the eon dragon raised an eyebrow at hearing a slight quiver, however small, in her voice.

"Why?" he asked.

Giratina blinked and her eyes flickered, as if unsure whether to ignite in a furious inferno or go cold. They decided on igniting.

"Why _what,_ Latios?" she snapped, wincing from the pain in one shoulder. Latios floated closer anyways, unperturbed by her blustery front.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" he asked gently, as if trying to keep her relaxed. "I'm trying to _help_ you." A cold gust of wind swept through the cavern.

"I don't _need_ your help," she grumbled, shifting her weight. Latios laughed softly, bending his head down to stare at Giratina at eye-level, no more than three feet away.

"What are you trying to defend here?" he asked lightly. "Pride? Reputation? Why push this away?"

Giratina glared at him deeply. "You don't have the right to _lecture_ me about not needing help," she growled. "You can _never_ comprehend my reasoning."

Latios smirked wanly. "Everyone needs help at one point or another. Why not you?"

Giratina chose this moment to use one of her still-healing wings to fiercely grab Latios and drag him towards her. Anger washed over Latios in that moment, stronger than any he had ever felt or seen before. He felt as if someone had injected raw pain into his veins, feeling the burning flames that burst from Giratina's eyes, inches away from his.

"You don't know me, Latios," she growled softly, her warm breath washing over his spectral face. Latios held his breath, trying not to breathe the soft yet poisonous scent of nightshade.

"You can never understand me," Giratina continued softly, anger beginning to fade. Her words were crafted from bitterness so deep, Latios could almost taste it. " _Never."_ He felt her grip on him loosen slightly. _What happened to this Pokémon?_ he wondered somberly, taking in Giratina's pain and bluster. _Does anyone truly know who Giratina is?_

Latios felt his face fall slightly, although he didn't know why. "I can try to understand, can't I?"

Giratina dropped the eon ghost and leaned back against the stone wall behind her tiredly. She still glared at him with combinations of deadly predator and cornered animal.

"Even if I _wanted_ you to, which I don't," she growled weakly. "You still couldn't."

Latios folded his arms over his grey chest. All his life, he had been with Latias, someone he could depend on, relate to. He knew that splitting a burden was almost like taking it away completely. Except, Giratina never had anyone to depend on down in Turnback. No one to even _talk_ to, besides some wandering spirits. Latios made an oath to himself in that moment that he would be the first Pokémon in the world to finally understand Giratina. After all of the brutality she'd been subject to, he figured _somebody_ owed that much to her. Even deceased gods.

 _I need to be careful how I go about it, though,_ Latios thought. _A few wrong sentences and I'll be sent to… whatever comes_ after _Turnback._ Latios shuddered at the thought.

"Fine," he said finally. "But we're not done with this talk." Giratina glared at him tiredly, as if he were a snack she was too lazy to go eat.

"Are you trying to give _me_ orders, See-Through?"

 _Oh yes, excellent job, Latios. Very careful._

"No," he said. "Just making a point. But don't call me _See-Through._ It's bad enough being called _dead."_

Giratina chuckled emptily as she leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. "Get used to it," she said lightly, as if telling a joke. "There worse things to be called." Latios considered probing deeper, but he quickly decided against it. _I can't exactly crack this nutshell in one hit. I'll need to take this one psychological scar at a time. I can start later._

"Can we start over?" he asked. Giratina opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow, but didn't object. Latios sighed and extended his spectral paw.

"Hello, I'm Latios, and I'm dead," he said. "Please don't take my head off."

There was silence as Giratina glanced down at Latios' face, his paw, then back up to his face again. Her eyebrow almost came off her face. Latios glanced around awkwardly, his paw still in the air.

Then Giratina laughed. It was a pure, clean sound, and hearing it made Latios flinch. In the three-and-a-half millennia he'd been alive, he'd never heard such a sound come from the Renegade. The closest he'd ever seen was a snort of amusement at a legend meeting.

"I didn't think we were going back that far," she said lightly. She extended a tattered wing, wincing slightly as it extended. Latios grabbed it in his paw and tightened his grip in the oddest paw/wing shake ever known. He noticed a subtle warmth coming from the contact, but he ignored it as Giratina continued.

"Giratina," she said. "Considering how much of a nuisance you've been, I can't say it's a pleasure."

Latios smirked as they each retracted their respective appendages. _At least I got her to do something she doesn't normally do,_ he thought. _I'm making progress._ "Of course," he said aloud.

"Oh, and Latios?"

"Yes?"

"Tell any spirit here I laughed aloud, and you'll be spending the next eternity milling about Turnback without a head." The Renegades' eyes gleamed maliciously as she raised her bloodied wings threateningly. Latios laughed nervously.

 _Oh, yeah,_ he thought. _I'm_ definitely _making progress._

/-\\-/-\

Raticate stood impatiently by the second pillar of Turnback. _Where is she?_ he thought. _Normally not this late…_

Just then, mist rose from the floor and condensed into a form her knew all too well; the elegant body of a Volcarona. Raticate ignored the slight hitch in his breath as his companion appeared.

" _Where have you been?"_ he asked her. _"We were supposed to have begun scouting for new specters ten minutes ago."_

Volcarona brushed her partner lightly, as if shooing away an insect. _"I got caught up watching some interesting events unfolding."_

Raticate snorted. _"Like what?"_ he asked with a slight tinge of humor in his voice. _"Did you see another tree?"_ Volcarona slapped him lightly upside the head as he chuckled. She had a knack for knowing when he was trying to get on her nerves.

" _That was_ one _time, and it's beside the point,"_ she said. _"Darkrai attacked Giratina just now."_

Raticate straightened, all humor lost. _"Who won?"_ he asked, intrigued. Specter battles were commonplace in Turnback, but _never_ did the Queen herself get challenged.

Volcarona stopped flapping her wings for a second; her version of a shrug. _"Both survived. Darkrai retreated back to his sanctuary, and Giratina was left seriously wounded in her chamber."_

Raticate hesitated a moment, thinking. _"Why did he attack?"_

Volcarona sighed, and she settled down on the rocky floor next to Raticate. _"It may have had something to do with Latios,"_ she said.

" _I don't take your meaning."_

Volcarona glanced at him with faint blue eyes. _"Latios said that Giratina was assigned by Arceus to care for him in Turnback."_

Raticate nodded. _"I remember. And?"_

" _And nobody took care of Darkrai when_ he _got here. I think that extra bit of 'injustice', as he would put it, pushed him over the edge."_

Raticate hummed thoughtfully, sitting down as well. _"Anything else?"_

Volcarona smirked and Raticate couldn't help but think; _Uh-oh._

" _Yes, actually,"_ she said. _"When Latios arrived eventually and saw her wounded, he began to pelt her with questions about her well-being."_

Raticate laughed. _"And I assume the former protector of Alto Mare is now ectoplasmic dust?"_

Volcarona turned to face his front. _"No,"_ she said, slight bewilderment slipping into her voice. _"Instead of killing him or punishing him, Giratina actually_ listened, _and then…"_ Volcarona took a breath.

"… _then she_ laughed. _"_

Raticate blinked. _"We are talking about Giratina, right?"_ he asked. _"Not a Zoroark_ disguised _as Giratina?"_

Volcarona shook her head, chuckling slightly. _"I didn't believe it either,"_ she said. _"A few words of kindness from Latios was enough to set her off balance."_ There was silence for a moment as Raticate took in the information he'd been given.

"… _Kind of reminds me of when I found_ you _injured here, some time back_ , _"_ he said eventually.

Volcarona pushed him on the shoulder lightly, barely moving him. _"Oh, be quiet, you rat,"_ she said. _"I wasn't_ that _pessimistic."_

" _Refresh my memory. Who called me 'a beige colored lump of decaying fur that can walk and ask pointless questions'?"_

Volcarona giggled and pushed on her partner's shoulder again, before eventually resting her head on it. _"Just let me delude myself, would you?"_

Raticate paused for a second before he tilted his head to rest on Volcarona's. _"What would be the fun in that?"_

Volcarona chuckled, then went silent. Raticate was perfectly content to simply lay there for a while, though. Eventually, Volcarona spoke up again.

" _We can't tell him about Giratina,"_ she said somberly. _"It's too dangerous. We need to separate ourselves from Darkrai."_

Raticate glanced down at her. _"Isn't that dangerous anyway?"_

Volcarona sighed. _"I suppose, but if we keep going with this, full-out war is going to break loose,"_ she said. _"I would rather stay here than die a second time."_

Raticate nodded. _"Good,"_ he said. _"Because I would prefer to stay as well."_

Volcarona sighed again, and Raticate could feel her chest heave gently as the breath left her. _"Good night,"_ she said softly.

Raticate looked down at her. _"What do you mean, 'good night'?"_ he asked. _"We need to do our morning rounds."_

Volcarona huffed softly. _"We're free from Darkrai, remember?"_ she said. _"We can just stay here forever if we wanted to."_

Raticate sighed. _"I suppose."_

Looking down at his partner, Raticate felt something uneasy settle in the pit of his non-existent stomach. _This will go wrong,_ he thought. _He'll find out, then come and hunt us down._ Raticate blinked as he felt one of Volcarona's translucent wings curl around his back. _But… I think right now it's paying off._

Raticate glanced down again. _"Good night, then,"_ he said softly. He swore he heard Volcarona hum smugly.

He rolled his eyes, then closed them as well.

 **E/N- Awww…**

 **Remember these two? They have yet to serve their purpose in the story, so this was really just a quick reminder of them.**

 **Also, is it just me, or are the Lati siblings acting a lot like detectives; Latias trying to find out what Kyurem cares about, and Latios trying to get Giratina to open up to him? I can tell this is going to get interesting.**

 **Once again, I profusely apologize for my tardiness, but I hope this makes up for it.**

 **Favorite, Follow, and Review,**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


	5. Scattered Mind, Scattered Soul

**A/N- I RETURN!**

 **Okay, so a quick thing here; the story's not actually done. I've completed it up through Chapter 8, so this'll about double the length of it now, but the whole thing is probably about two-thirds of the way done. I technically should have waited until I'd finished it, but just keeping these on my computer collecting dust was killing me, so I decided to just give the story a four chapter boost.**

 **This does mean that I'll go silent again after Chapter 8 gets released, but I hope these four chapters are a show of faith that I'm trying to finish these things. :)**

 **As always, please leave any feedback in the form of a review, as they are always appreciated!**

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

The Price of a Soul: Chapter 5

"Now that we're all present," Arceus said, taking his place at the head of the white table. "Let's begin, shall we?"

The Alpha's response consisted of groans from the amassed legendaries. Kyurem was no exception. _So this isn't an informative meeting,_ he thought. _This is an assignment gathering._

 _Of course,_ rang a small voice in his head. It took Kyurem a moment to realize that this was Latias, and he glanced down at the seat to his left. The small eon was watching Arceus intently, but she smirked when he turned to face her. _I think the council's had enough shocking revelations this month._

Kyurem scoffed. _This council is full of shocking revelations,_ he said, still eyeing the dragoness. _The last meeting wasn't so important._ Latias flinched, and she turned to glance up at Kyurem. Her golden eyes overflowed with sadness, but also a resigned tiredness.

 _It was to me._

Kyurem was about to snap back, telling her to grow up, but he found himself unable to form the harsh reply. Something in Latias' eyes vexed him. Not the levels of sadness that filled them, but something else. Kyurem couldn't quite put his claw on it, but he found himself unable to tear his gaze away from Latias' eyes…

In his moment of hesitation, the intensity of the younger eon dragon's expression lessened. Sadness slipped away, replaced by… surprise? What could she possibly be surprised about?

"Kyurem."

The Unovan Ice legend flinched as his tunnel vision expanded to accommodate the rest of the council. The haze that had formed over his mind dissipated, and he turned to the head of the table. "Yes, Arceus?" he said, hoping nobody had been watching him stare at Latias. He heard a scoff in the back of his head, and he assumed that Latias had intercepted the thought.

 _Aww,_ she thought with false sympathy. _Is someone afwaid of getting embawassed?_ Kyurem growled under his breath, but didn't give the eon the satisfaction of seeing his reaction.

Arceus sighed, no doubt aware of their mental bickering. "Despite your unusual arrangement," he began. "Both of you are still required to complete your weekly assignments, per usual, but in each other's company."

"…"

"What?" Both Kyurem and Latias protested at this statement.

A wave of chuckles spread through the council as Arceus smirked. "You both heard me," he said. "You still have to do your share of Earthly chores." Kyurem grumbled in protest.

"How am I supposed to do that when I'm stuck babysitting _this_ one?" he asked, gesturing at Latias. Conflicting murmurs of agreement and disapproval spread across the council, but Kyurem failed to notice them as Latias increased her hover, matching Kyurem's eye level.

"Well, I can't do much when I'm stuck with _you_ either," she snapped back. "I spend enough energy trying to keep you from biting my head off."

Kyurem growled. "Apparently not enough," he growled threateningly. "Because I'm _sorely_ tempted to right now." Latias put her paws on her hips and opened her mouth to fire back, but Arceus' voice rang out suddenly.

"ENOUGH!"

Both bickering legends froze, and they simultaneously glanced at the Alpha from the corners of their eyes. Arceus rose from his seated position, and Kyurem felt something settle in the pit of his stomach; it felt like dread.

"It should be quite clear to all by now that these two are remarkably dysfunctional, correct?" Murmurs of agreement. "Therefore, I declare this; Kyurem and Latias' first assignment together should be one of low importance." Kyurem felt his stomach churn at these words.

 _No,_ he thought, the realization of what assignment Arceus was referring to dawning on him. _Please, no. Anything else._

Arceus smiled benevolently. "However, their first assignment together should still be a necessity, however small it may be."

 _Oh, Arceus, please no._ Latias' voice sounded in Kyurem's head, indicating that she too had come to the same inevitable conclusion as to what their assignment would be. _Anything but-_

"You're both assigned to dish duty."

There were mixed replies. Most legends sighed with relief. Others, two to be precise, groaned.

"That's grunt work, though!" Latias protested. "Why not make just Kyurem do it?"

"Hey!" Kyurem growled, turning to face the young eon. Latias made an overly-sympathetic face.

"Ooh, sorry ice block," she said in a tone that revealed that she was in no way repentant. "Did that make you feel bad?" Kyurem growled and clenched his claws.

"No," he said stiffly, drawing a chuckle form the by-standing legends. "It makes me feel _annoyed._ This seems to be a talent of yours." Latias giggled impishly, and hearing the noise annoyed him even more.

"Well, to be honest, it's not that hard to pull off," she said lightly. "You're just pessimistic." Kyurem growled and took a step forward, but before he could do anything drastic;

"Stop."

Arceus spoke the single word, and it was enough to make Kyurem obey. No matter how angry or powerful he was, he knew that Arceus could be even worse. Reluctantly, Kyurem turned around and sat down with a huff. Arceus sighed, shoulders slumping ever so slightly. Kyurem didn't know if it was from relief, or if it was something else.

"To prevent any further interruptions," he said tiredly, glancing at the pair of bickering legends. "Kyurem and Latias will begin their assignment immediately." Arceus glowed white, and Kyurem felt his body tingling slightly. _He's teleporting us out,_ he realized. _He must really be annoyed with us by now._

Latias chose this moment to speak up in his mind. _Remind me whose fault that is, ice block,_ she thought cheerily.

Kyurem turned around, took one look at the innocent smile Latias was giving him and he raised an arm to swipe at her with a Dragon Claw. Before he could-

 _Poof!_ Both legends disappeared in a flash of white light.

The council room was silent for a few seconds. Arceus leaned back against his seat, already exhausted with his bickering creations to the point of insanity. Then, Mew asked the question that was flying around everyone else's heads;

"So… who's on garbage duty?"

/-\\-/-\

"Hmph."

The discontented sound echoed through the endless tunnels of Turnback as it left Giratina's mouth. After a few more hours of rest and recuperation, Giratina's wounds from her scuffle with Darkrai's specter had healed almost completely. She was currently doing her routine cavern checks for any odd spiritual activity, such as coups, rebellions, and escapees. Just another typical day for the Renegade. However, nothing of interest ever happened on these excursions, because she ruled her domain with the threat of an iron fist. Or sometimes an Iron Tail.

It was quite boring, really. So, understandably, Giratina could not find a single acceptable reason as to _why_ Latios had to keep _following her around_.

It was _really_ starting get on her nerves. However, in spite of this, Giratina was determined to not let anything show. Weakness in any form, however slight, was something several malevolent spirits besides Darkrai himself would have _loved_ to find in their Queen.

In fact, it was really quite the miracle that no one had noticed the falter in her harsh countenance earlier that day. This train of thought inevitably led Giratina back to her talk with Latios as she laid wounded on her cavern floor. She hated everything about that conversation. She hated the nerve of Latios to ask those meaningless questions in a way that sounded so _genuine._ She hated how he'd tried to make it seem as if he actually _cared_ about her well-being.

And Giratina _especially_ hated the way her heart jumped at the thought of it all.

She absolutely _despised_ the feeling of her heart crawling up her throat. The way her breathing was hampered. For Arceus' sake, she was _Giratina._ The Pokémon whose species was forever named 'Renegade' because she was excessively violent. The Pokémon who was feared the world over as the demonic tyrant of Hell.

Not the Pokémon who got flustered at the slightest question.

Giratina set her resolve firm; no distractions. Her duty came first, and nothing else mattered. She'd learned that over a long, grueling life of having to keep rampant and acerbic spirits under control.

 _But…_ a small voice in the back of her head began. _Technically, Latios_ is _your duty._ In a moment of weakness, Giratina glanced behind her. Floating about ten feet away was the misty grey form of Latios. He lifted his head to meet her gaze and his expression was one of pure curiosity, as if he were about to go on another question-asking spree. His expression, although a bit muddled by the fact that he was made mostly of fog, was one of complete innocence as if he were a child following a parent, not a ghost following… well… _her._

Latios opened his mouth to speak. "So-,"

"No."

Giratina caught Latios' blink before she turned back around to face front. She could almost _feel_ his confusion. _There is no way I'm letting that smoke ball get my guard down again,_ she thought to herself firmly as she continued to stomp along the near endless corridors of Turnback, pausing for a second to check inside a long-forgotten cavern before continuing.

Latios' voice again; "I didn't even get a chance to ask anything!" he protested. Giratina continued to stomp her way forwards, her six grey legs rhythmically striking the cold floor in a nearly perfect synchronicity.

"That's the idea," she said coldly, not bothering to justify Latios' comment with a glance in his direction. "I don't intend on answering anymore of your… questions." Giratina internally cursed herself for the pause. As she curled her neck to the side to peek into the next cave, Latios flew up beside her.

"I'm not gonna delve into another emotionally sensitive conversation," he said. If Giratina hadn't known any better, she would have guessed that he sounded exasperated. It really should have been expected at this point; after all, she admittedly _could_ be disagreeable from time to time. _But he has no right to be pissed that_ I'm _pissed, because it's all_ his _fault I'm this bitchy in the first place._ "As much as I'd hate to admit, that was probably the closest to exposed that I'll ever be able to get you."

Giratina paused, letting his last words ring in the deadly silence. She didn't like his intent, not one bit. She had no doubt that Latios was deliberately _trying_ to tear down her defenses. Unfortunately for the deceased Eon, Giratina was steadfastly determined _not_ to let that happen. Too many horrible things would happen if she did, and the Distortion basilisk didn't spend any more time imagining what could go wrong.

Giratina sighed and dropped her chin to her chest, not turning around to face the deceased eon. "See-Through," she said quietly, and she didn't miss the way Latios' expression brightened at her response. "I'm going to ask you a serious question, and I want you to answer truthfully."

"Yes?" If Giratina concentrated she could find trace amounts of hope in his voice, but she wasn't concentrating on Latios' voice. Obviously. That would imply that she _cared_ about what he thought and felt, but she most definitely didn't. Obviously.

Giratina caught Latios' look of hope, and she felt a small spurt of anger fly through her. The basilisk snarled, the noise shaking the cavern, and she glared intensely at the deceased Eon as she asked her question.

"Do you have a death wish?"

Latios floated around so he was directly in front of her. His expression was defiant, but in a cautious and reserved way. It looked as if he were ready to take her on in a battle and beat the answer out of her if she didn't comply. _I admire his spunk,_ Giratina noted with and amused snort, _but he's just out of Shadow Claw's range. Wimp._

"Um," Latios said eventually, as if seriously considering his options between afterlife and oblivion. "No?" Giratina craned her neck forward and dropped her head so it was a foot from his. Giratina tried to find fear in his eyes but, oddly enough, she couldn't find any. She shoved the thought aside as she continued.

"Then don't get too personal," Giratina snarled at him softly, her mask sliding shut over her face. "As annoying as you are, it would be a shame to have to kill you. Again." Latios blinked several times rapidly. Perhaps she was imagining things, but she swore he took a deeper breath as she stopped speaking. _Probably nothing. Latios is pretty weird, even without his… breathing habits?_ Giratina shook her head and huffed, not quite sure why she was bothering to analyze Latios' habits and motives.

"Really?" he asked as s clever smirk spread across his muzzle. "Why would it be a shame?" Giratina growled, rolled her eyes, and moved closer to the deceased legend.

Giratina was counting on Latios retreating. She expected him to cower backwards, shrink down, and have nothing but fear in his eyes. It was what every spirit in Turnback did when Giratina was so close to them. Heck, she even remembered a time where a Pokémon's spirit completely disintegrated right under her withering gaze. Why should she have any reason to expect differently of Latios?

So of course, when Latios didn't move an inch, the demonic Legendary of Ghosts bumped her nose against his.

Giratina was grateful for her mask, because it hid the way her jaw dropped. _How… how did he do that?_ No spirit had ever been able to make physical contact with her when she didn't permit it. In effect, this meant that spirits couldn't so much as lay a finger on her unless she wanted them to. So what made Latios different than the rest?

 _Maybe his specter is denser than others because of his legendary status,_ she mused to herself. _I'll have to find out if that's true or not._ Giratina roused herself from her thoughts to glance down at Latios. Due to the fact that he was dead, all the bright color he'd had in life, from his down to his irises, was a dull grey. This held true for every spirit that came into Turnback; and with the odd exception of Darkrai's scepter, no spirit had ever broken this law.

But, as the Distortion Queen looked into Latios' eyes…

She swore on (and maybe against) all things holy that she saw true color in his eyes. If she looked hard enough, she could just make out a few strands of crimson iris. He was staring at her with something that looked like… hope? That couldn't be right. The only thing Giratina had _ever_ seen in Latios' eyes before was love for his sister; an unbreakable sibling bond. The look he was giving her now was _very_ similar. There was that stubborn bit of determination, as if to say; _I'm here for you, whether you like it or not._

Giratina suddenly felt uncomfortable.

She straightened herself and growled deeply. Folding her wings across her back and holding her chin up high, she pushed past Latios so she could continue her patrolling. She shoved the image of Latios' smirk out of her head as she stomped away. _I'm getting too vulnerable,_ Giratina realized. _I need to flip this on its side and stomp on its stomach._ "Why don't you just go mope around about your sister, Latios?"

Silence. Giratina stomped onwards coldly, because she most certainly was _not_ wondering if Latios was following her. She did _not_ care that he might have been hurt by her words. And she did _not_ intend to waste any more time thinking about it.

"…"

 _*sigh*_

Giratina stopped in her tracks and glanced behind her, being certain to not leave a trace of _... anything…_ in her countenance. Latios was still hovering in place, now about twenty yards behind her. His head was tilted down and a little to the right, his grey eyelids sealed shut. From the moderate distance between them, Giratina could make out his clenched fists. He looked sad, but… also kind of _angry,_ as if his death had been by his fault, and his alone.

Giratina sighed again. She'd seen that in countless spirits who had arrived a Turnback. They felt like they had let their family and friends down by passing, even those who did so naturally. She knew it was natural of a creature to criticize itself first before others, but she also knew that the only thing that could result from blaming yourself about something you had no control over was unnecessary suffering. Latios was suffering in that way now; he was destroying himself from the inside out and, because of his self-inflicted grief, he thought that he perfectly deserved destruction.

Giratina knew she needed to keep walking. She had already let her guard down far too many times in the past few hours alone. The last thing she needed now was another moment of weakness. _Why do I put myself in these situations?_ she wondered with a small wave of acerbity passing through her. _This could all have been avoided if I had just ignored Latios like I was supposed to._ Still… she couldn't ignore the small twinge of guilt she felt at seeing his reaction.

 _Guilt?_ asked a voice in her head. _Now you're just making excuses to get overthrown. Since when did_ anything _make you feel guilty? And why do you suddenly_ care?

Giratina growled to herself. _I don't care. I can't afford to._

 _Prove it,_ countered the voice. _Walk away and forget about him._

Giratina groaned aloud and dragged a spiked wing down the front of her face. _I want to. Why can't I?_ It was as much a mystery to her as it was to anyone else. Did it have to do with when she'd been injured during her latest battle with Darkrai, and Latios had found her bleeding and wounded… had she exposed herself then?

 _I was weak physically,_ she reasoned with herself, not content with that answer. _That doesn't mean anything about my mental state. Still… something is happening to me, and I don't like it one bit._ Latios was doing something to her mind, and Giratina was determined to figure out why, and make sure to find a way to end it. There was no room for _sympathy_ or _worry_ in Turnback. Only coldness.

"What's the matter, Giratina?" Latios asked suddenly, voice as hollow as a Caracosta shell. He kept his gaze firmly pinned on the rocks under him, almost like he was talking to himself. The sharp contrast of his morose demeanor now against his almost-eager energy before caught Giratina off guard, but only for a split second before she regained her composure and forced a scowl back no her face. "Conscience getting the better of you?"

Giratina growled as she turned her body to fully face the grey eon. Before she could snap back at him, Latios continued.

"Why, Giratina?"

The Renegade froze, her mouth contorted in a snarl. _What's the see-through idiot getting at?_ "Why what?" she snapped eventually.

Latios' gaze never moved from the rocks below him. His paws were still clenched. "Why do you attack-?"

"Why do I attack anything that moves?" she snapped quickly, cutting him off before he could segue into some revealing question. "I'm not a blood-thirsty monster, Latios. Don't assume anything." Latios finally pried his gaze from the floor, meeting her wine-colored irises evenly. There was an immeasurable amount of sadness in them, but… it wasn't the all-encompassing mourning that she'd seen before. This kind of sadness was... wistful. Like he was watching someone fail. _How strange._

"I wasn't going to say that," he said gently, almost inaudibly. Giratina rolled her eyes, quite tired with his bush-beating antics.

"Then what is it?" she asked, annoyance slowly rising. "I don't have all day. Spit it out."

Latios floated forward cautiously, much like he had when Giratina had been injured. _He's afraid,_ she thought smugly. _As he should be._ Yet, Giratina found her smugness fade as she saw the quiet determination in his eyes. Determination and caution equaled… anxiety, or nervousness. _So, he's not terrified of me, but instead he's getting anxious? The heck is wrong with his amygdala?_

"Why do you attack _me_ when I only ask a question?"

Giratina growled. "Don't say it like that," she growled. "That makes me sound crazy. I'm not crazy!" Giratina ignored the way his eyebrow moved up in disbelief. "Besides, they're not _just questions._ They're deliberate attempts to bring my guard down." Latios chuckled emptily, wringing his paws together. Giratina's eyes narrowed in an annoyed suspicion. _He sounds like he's enjoying this little back and forth way too much._

"That's the premise of a question," he said, the distance between them shortened now to ten yards. "To relax, and just… talk." Giratina scoffed.

"And if I don't want to _relax?"_ she asked haughtily. "What then?" Latios chuckled again, although this one had a little more life to it. Giratina blinked at hearing the eon's revitalized tone, but she couldn't bring herself to question it. It struck her suddenly that Latios was getting rejuvenated by their simple and somewhat petty banter, which was a ridiculous thought any way you looked at it. Giratina was the bitch from hell, the one who lashed out if you so much as looked at her funny. Why in the world would Latios even _tolerate_ a conversation with her, much less enjoy it? Giratina had a sinking feeling she wouldn't like the answer whenever it came to her.

"Then I keep pestering you," Latios said with a smirk, still moving forward. "Until you finally loosen up." Giratina dedicated a lot to ignoring the odd flicker of warmth in her wings.

"I'll probably end up killing you the second time before _that_ happens," she growled, and Latios stopped ten feet from the Renegade. She snarled at herself yet again as she felt a twinge of stupid, moronic disappointment that he'd stopped so short. Latios caught this gesture and smiled genuinely, sending another Arceus-forsaken twinge through her and just causing her to snarl again.

"I don't think so," Latios said, and Giratina duly noticed that the odd gleam of hope had returned to his eyes. Giratina growled and stomped forward herself, closing the separating distance between them to five feet while steadfastly ignoring the way her heart was pounding faster.

"What makes you think that, See-Through?" she asked, craning her neck again. She made sure to not get too close, though. "I've half a mind to kill you right now, and any more provocation on your part may lead to repercussions worse than death." Latios was quiet for a second. For two. Giratina leaned back and relaxed slightly, satisfied. _That got through to his thick skull. Finally._

Then the deceased guardian of Alto Mare laughed in the draconian face of death.

Giratina blinked. He was laughing. At _her._ Why the _hell_ was he laughing? He should have been terrified out of his puny mind, like every other living creature. She groaned, dragging a spiked wing down the front of her face for the third time in the last 6 hours. This was yet another nuance to the quickly-growing collection of oddities that surrounded her relationship with Latios, and it was just as unwelcome as the ones before it. "Why are you laughing, See-Through?" Giratina asked directing, not bothering with her rarely-used subtlety. "Do you really believe that I somehow _won't_ kill you?"

"Yes," he said candidly, and Giratina absolutely _hated_ the smug little smile that was plastered over his face. "I do." Giratina scoffed and rolled her wine-tinted irises.

"And what have I done to make you think this?" Latios grinned widely, and something about it ticked Giratina off even more so than she already was. Just the idea that Latios could remain completely unaffected by things that had sent ghosts whimpering away annoyed the ever-living _shit_ out of the antimatter Legend.

"Well, to start with," Latios said, reminding Giratina who exactly she was getting pissed at. "You've gone through the trouble to nickname me, which I think is _adorable."_ Anger flared inside Giratina's chest, and she lunged forward, grabbing Latios tightly with her clawed wings. She'd had enough of all his _antics,_ of all his _analyzing,_ of all his… _caring. Why_ the _hell_ did he care so _damn much?_

"Also," Latios said, unfazed by the fact that he was held in a potentially fatal grip by the Distortion Queen. "You smell like nightshade." Giratina froze, taking a second to re-read his last comment mentally. _I smell like… what?_ Against her will, Giratina felt a light blush dust her grey cheeks, and she was immensely grateful that her golden mask concealed most of it.

"Do I even _want_ to know how you know that?" Giratina snarled under her breath, tightening her grip on the Eon to emphasize her point.

"When you pick me up with your wings," Latios said immediately, in an innocent way that in no way betrayed any concern at his current predicament. "Then you start yelling, and your breath—." Giratina tightened her grip on Latios, causing him to flinch as the crimson wingtips dug into his sides.

"Shut up," she said firmly, and much to her sanity's relief Latios obeyed. "How does any of _that_ make you think I won't kill you? Because," Giratina tightened her grip yet again, and Latios winced in pain. "I'm about one more snide comment away from doing it." Latios met Giratina's fierce glare easily, something the offset the Distortion ruler for a moment.

"Then do it, if you're so desperate to," he said. "Kill me." Giratina recovered from her small moment of shock, and she quickly snarled to.

"Don't tempt me."

"I'm not," Latios replied. "I'm _asking_ you to. Kill me."

Giratina felt the familiar burn in her throat that was associated with a Dragon Pulse. As the attack's hum grew louder, Latios bowed his head. He wasn't pleading for his life, like he should have been (despite the fact that he had _asked_ to die). Instead, he looked… at peace. As if Latios had accepted this, because he knew there was nothing he could do about it. That was stupid, though, because he had _asked for it._

Giratina paused, the beam of purple energy suspended in her maw. The Renegade was overcome with a sudden moment of clarity, and her angry expression cleared as she gazed down at Latios' captured form. _Look at him,_ said a voice in the back of her head. _Who does he remind you of?_

The Renegade reluctantly turned her gaze to Latios. She ignored the fact that he was staring at her in manner that seemed slightly forlorn, and instead concentrated on his body language. His head was tilted slightly, as if he was defeated. However, despite still being constrained by her claws, his body was turned away slightly, as if he couldn't wait to leave and get this over with. But there was still the way his paws were clenched, as if he knew he was doing the right thing.

 _Look familiar?_ asked a voice in her head.

 _Yes,_ she thought before she could stop herself. _He's acting like…_ me.

Giratina was so deep in thought, she didn't realized that the Dragon Pulse had died down and that she'd closed her mouth. Nor did she notice the small smile that spread across Latios' face as she loosened her grip and dropped him. She was just too shocked at the conclusion she'd arrived at.

There was no possible way that Latios was _that_ similar to her. It was simply impossible. How could she, the scorned and demonic overseer of Turnback, have _anything_ in common with the constantly loved and praised guardian of Alto Mare? Hell, the only similarity they _should_ have had was their typing.

 _You're right,_ said the deeper voice. _But you also_ should _have killed Latios by now._

 _Thanks for reminding me._

Giratina immediately picked the spectral guardian back up, making his smile disappear faster than a Weavile's Quick Attack. For the first time since his arrival in Turnback, Latios' misty eyes showed true fear. The two orbs turned to meet her gaze frantically, and Giratina felt her rage falter again, much to her nearly everlasting disdain.

 _Why am I stopping_ again? Giratina thought to herself furiously. _I_ wanted _him to be afraid, Arceus dammit! Why do I stop?_

Without thinking, Giratina dropped Latios and stepped back a few paces. Latios' expression transitioned from fear, to confusion, to… pride? Giratina realized she was staring, so she growled loudly and pointed a tattered wing at the deceased legend.

"You need to learn your boundaries, See-Through," she growled. "I won't be so forgiving next time." The Renegade turned back around and opened a portal to the Distortion. "I will be checking something," she told Latios without looking at him. "You'd better learn to mind your own business when I return."

As the Renegade dove into the swirling purple portal, she didn't see the Eon behind her completely shrug off her threat and smile widely.

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

Volcarona awoke to something shaking her shoulder.

" _Get up!"_ Raticate was at her side, frantically trying to rouse her. The Bug-Type huffed and curled a wing back around her body.

" _Buzz off,"_ she told him grumpily. _"I'm not getting up until I want to."_

" _Rona,"_ Raticate said forcefully. _"We need to go. NOW."_ The change in the rat's tone was enough to rouse the Sun Pokémon. _Rona_ was his nickname for her, but he hadn't used it in so long, due to Darkrai's general disdain of any emotion other than anger or fear.

" _What is it?"_ she asked, still slightly groggy. _"What's wrong?"_

Raticate wrung his claws together and looked around nervously. _"We've stayed in the same place for too long. If we don't move soon, Darkrai will—."_

" _ **What a pleasant surprise."**_

Had Volcarona any blood, it would have chilled at hearing the fallen legend's voice. _We were stupid to let our guards down,_ she realized. _And now we're going to pay the price._

Darkrai eyed them with his eerie cyan iris. He was in a relaxed position, but that didn't reassure Volcarona. She'd seen how fast he was on the draw. She knew what the husk of dark power could do.

Raticate whimpered slightly and backed up towards Volcarona. Darkrai laughed at seeing this.

" _ **I'll cut to the chase,"**_ he said casually. _**"You two have exhausted your use to me. I have defeated Giratina on my own."**_ As the specter spread his arms and charged twin spheres of energy, Volcarona let out a battle cry and settled into a fighting stance, charging an attack herself.

" _You didn't defeat her,"_ Volcarona pointed out, and Darkrai's face hardened. _"And fighting a Legendary is much different than fighting a Champion's team."_

" _ **You hardly count as a Champion's Pokémon,"**_ Darkrai scoffed, keeping the orbs of energy suspended in his palms. _**"One of you never lived to see his trainer get that far, and the other one's already been replaced."**_ Volcarona felt all the Fire-Type in her flare up at hearing this. Anger pulsed throughout her body.

" _Don't you dare accuse Alder of abandoning me,"_ Volcarona hissed lowly. Raticate flinched at hearing her voice, undoubtedly understanding what she was thinking.

" _ **Isn't that what happened?"**_ taunted the deceased nightmare. _**"Already replaced by a look-alike, as if there was no importance in your passing…"**_ The specter tutted and shook his head. _**"How sad. You should be thanking me for the chance to end your misery."**_

Volcarona trembled, the heat from her rage causing her to glow fiercely. She forced the energy to condense in the center of her chest. Darkrai seemed oblivious to this, instead continuing his taunting.

" _ **It's too bad you decided to betray me,"**_ Darkrai said with the slightest tinge of sadness in his voice, still unaware of the energy that Volcarona was charging. _**"I would have—."**_

" _HYPER BEAM!"_

The orange streak of energy pounded straight into Darkrai's chest, pushing the legend backwards several feet. Immediately, Volcarona turned tail and dashed away. _"Come on!"_ she called to her partner, who scampered after her quickly. He gazed up at her in amazement.

" _Since when could you do that?"_

" _Since I decided to keep it under wraps,"_ Volcarona replied as they fled. _"Never know when you'll have to pull a surprise attack."_

 _FWOOM!_

A Shadow Ball came from nowhere and caught Volcarona in the gut. As she cried out and doubled over in pain, Darkrai rose from the ground in front of them with a dark chuckle.

" _ **Kudos for stalling,"**_ he said. _**"I hope you enjoyed those last few seconds of illusionary victory."**_ Volcarona acted immediately, before anyone even had a chance to blink. She turned and wrapped her wings around Raticate, holding the deceased Normal type close to her thorax in a tight embrace. As she expected, Darkrai hesitated in his attack to laugh at the undoubtedly pitiful show she put on.

" _What are you doing?"_ asked Raticate shakily, knowing it wasn't in her nature to give up without a fight. Volcarona squeezed her partner tightly and kissed him quickly, the act sending a pulse of warmth through her cold spectral body. She looked Raticate dead in the eye, a sensation of calmness sweeping over her as the pair's eyes met for quite conceivably the last time.

" _Stalling."_

With that, Volcarona forced herself and Raticate's bodies to unravel, their forms dissolving into and mixing with the fog on Turnback's floor. Her conscience went dark, but not before hearing the explosion of a missed attack and the furious roar of a nightmare Legend who'd been outfoxed by his prey.


	6. Because Reasons

**A/N- Another chapter in my four-chapter blitz. Whee!**

 **Now, then. Shall we begin?**

The Price of a Soul: Chapter 6

Latias' vision cleared suddenly. The white flash from the teleportation faded, and she found herself in another part of the Hall; the kitchens.

 _Whoosh!_

Immediately, streaks of purple energy passed right in front of the young Eon's snout, and she hovered back in surprise. Glancing to the side, she realized that the streaks had been Kyurem's attempt at striking her with a Dragon Claw.

The Psychic female turned slightly and raised an eyebrow. Kyurem simply huffed in annoyance, apparently not feeling the need to try a second time.

"You're lucky Arceus sent us out when he did," snapped the Ice Type. "Or you'd be shreds of annoying dragoness right now." Latias smirked and put a claw on one hip, fluttering her eyelashes at the Unovan Legend.

"Aw, Ice Block, you know you could never hit me," she teased. "I'm _way_ to fast."

Kyurem snarled, but didn't make any motions to retaliate to snap back. Instead his gaze became transfixed on something behind Latias. He never said anything to indicate his displeasure; Latias knew he tried to avoid showing _anything,_ if he could manage it. And yet, somehow, she managed to infer that something was amiss, or at least out of the ordinary. This prompted her to turn around, and when she did, the Eon dragoness' neck slumped in a depressed fashion.

The two Legendaries were, of course, looking at the monumental stack of sullied dishes and utensils that lay before them.

Latias felt a wave of cold air go down her neck as Kyurem exhaled behind her, causing a rather unwilling shiver to crawl up her spine, tickle her brain, and move right back down the way it had come. The Eon dragoness resisted the urge to let loose an annoyed huff.

 _I don't get why he does that to me,_ she thought with a mental growl. _His breath is cold. Big deal! I've handled worse cold than_ him.

In order to get her mind off the somewhat annoying and rather odd topic of her reactions, she decided to deliberately provoke Kyurem once more. She didn't quite know _why_ she liked provoking the Ice Legend. Latias really wasn't one to annoy others on purpose; she preferred to be the peacemaker and see the best in everyone. But when it came to Kyurem, she found herself not caring as much, as strange as that sounded. The younger Eon felt… different around him. She knew that Kyurem had spent most of his life building up a thick skin, and as a result he wasn't fazed by _anything_ anymore. But whenever she teased him, her words _always_ seemed to leave him grasping for a response. No cold glare. No sharp threat. Just a moment of brief, innocent confusion that she'd never ever seen the Unovan have before.

Latias found that refreshing. It was almost like her jesting and prodding was revealing the _actual_ Kyurem, one that was (slightly) gentler and lighthearted. She found a great deal of pride in exposing the Unovan's emotional underbelly, because it meant that the statement she made to Kyurem on their first day together was false; _"When I look at you… I don't see anything. You're cold, Kyurem, and that rubs off on anyone. Even me."_ For once, Latias was happy to have herself proved wrong, and her provoking of Kyurem was just her own, special way of accomplishing that.

And also, it was extremely funny.

"What have you gotten us into, Kyurem?" Latias shook her head in an overtly admonishing manner as she turned back around to face the Ice-type in question. His expression was as closed as always—although that may have had something to do with his face being lined with shards of sub-zero ice—and his eyes were narrowed as a hollow chuckle sounded from the back of his throat.

"Oh, this is my fault now, is it?" he asked in his icicle-riddled voice. "You know, that makes me wonder, Latias, have you always believed everything to be my fault?" The remaining Eon sibling felt a smirk tug at the corners of her mouth.

"Of course I have," she said with a false conviction. "It obviously can't be _mine;_ I'm far too innocent and adorable to be of blame for anything." Kyurem chuckled again, closing his eyes and shaking his head slightly, as though she'd fallen for some trap. The Boundary legend stepped forward to close the distance between them, and leaned over to put his frozen countenance right next to her ear.

Latias felt a sudden desire to move away from her icy caretaker, but she found herself unable to as more unwanted shivers crawled up and down her spine. The Eon dragoness had heard all about Kyurem's legends; from the time he ate a human to about how he supposedly had come on an asteroid from outer space, merged with his two counterparts. In doing so, she'd also learned that his innards supposedly were sub-zero in temperature.

However, she'd never truly believed it until now, as she felt the aura of coldness that radiated from his snout. Latias felt the entire right side of her face tingle with what she really hoped was just temperature adjusting, and not… anything else.

 _What else could it be?_ snipped a sardonic voice in the back of her head. Latias pushed it aside as Kyurem began speaking again.

"If you're so _innocent,"_ he whispered in her ear in a tone made her shudder, something she immediately felt angry towards. _What is with me today?_ Latias asked herself. _Why does everything he says seem to paralyze me?_ "And _adorable…"_ he continued, thankfully missing the light blush that dusted the red Eon's cheeks,"then _why_ in the _world_ do you drop the act for me?"

This oddity of a statement was enough to finally snap Latias out of her trance, if it could be called that. Immensely grateful for the distraction, Latias hovered backwards and scrawled a hopefully convincing look of sarcastic confusion on her snout to mask her earlier stupor.

"Whaddya mean, _drop the act?"_ Latias asked indignantly. Kyurem's pale yellow eyes gleamed with what seemed to be a cross between amusement, mischief, and… wistfulness? She shook her head to snap herself out of her reverie, and she noticed that some heat had risen to her cheeks as she did so.

Latias tried not to dwell on that too much.

"Well, despite the innocence you so claim to possess," Kyurem began tauntingly. "You seem to throw it all out the window whenever we get to talking." The Unovan legend scoffed lightly, his head twisting downwards and to the side in what Latias took to be a contemplative manner. The yellow shard atop his head glowed dimly as he lifted his frosted gaze again to meet Latias'.

"Now, I can't read minds like you can, Latias," he said with a lick of humor in his words. "But I'm fairly certain there's a _reason_ for all this. Do you mind telling me what it is?"

Latias blinked slowly, cautiously taking her time to form an answer. She didn't know how much she wanted to reveal to Kyurem about her motives. There was a slight chance that maybe he'd see her motives of what they were, and he'd fully accept her. Of course, that was largely overshadowed by the chance that he'd completely explode in anger at the realization that he was manipulating her.

"I…" Latias felt the words die in her throat. Almost on instinct, Latias extended her Psychic powers and scanned Kyurem's mind in an attempt to uncover what kind of response the Ice dragon was expecting. She knew it was probably morally wrong, but she was stuck! Latias wasn't anxious to say or do something that would destroy what little trust had grown between them. Regardless, Latias took a breath and looked into Kyurem's mind.

… _doing it on purpose, I'm sure of it,_ his mind mused, the sentences echoing quietly Latias' mind as Kyurem's golden eyes studied her. _But I need to know why. Is this like Hoopa before she disappeared, and she's doing it to cope with the grief of her brother's death? Or…_

Kyurem's gaze softened the slightest bit under Latias' mental scrutiny. Unconsciously, the dragoness felt herself blush, although she didn't have the slightest clue as to _why. I really should get myself checked. Maybe it's a circulation problem?_ Latias shook her head slightly and returned her attention to Kyurem.

… _is this more like what Azelf was doing to Uxie, and it's because she…_ Kyurem's thoughts faltered, and his brow visibly furrowed confusion. _Why is she staring at me like that? It's almost like she…_ The Boundary Pokémon's eyes narrowed in sudden understanding, and Latias felt something with a cold aura brush over her mental probe.

 _Get out of my head and answer the question, Latias,_ he thought to her. The dragoness recoiled in surprise at being discovered, but she didn't sever their mental connection.

 _I… I don't know why I do it to you, Kyurem,_ she thought, broadcasting her vague answer to Kyurem. _It's not really something I can explain. It just feels… natural. I guess you_ could _call it coping._

Kyurem didn't move at all in response; even his mind stayed blank as the two stared at each other, one with a cold regard and the other with a confused warmth. Latias dimly noticed that they had somehow closed the distance between them so they were snout-to-snout. Had she hovered closer, or was it Kyurem? Or had they started this close to each other, and she'd never noticed it?

Latias felt trapped. She so desperately wanted to get away from this conversation, to just get their assignment done and get busy on something else, and yet… she also felt something deep inside her wishing that the moment would never end. The only thing _that_ part of her wanted was for both Legendaries to stay there, gazing at each other… to stay _together._

Kyurem's eyes widened slightly, and Latias could feel his cold exhale of surprise on her lips. She berated herself for it, but she felt a light blush dust her cheeks. Kyurem took a few steps backwards at seeing her flush, and Latias felt that small part of her from before cry out in disappointment.

"What…" Kyurem couldn't even finish his sentence, so Latias took it upon herself to take a peek into his mind again.

It wasn't as calm and cool as it had been on her first visit. The Ice dragon's mind was now a whipping blizzard loaded with a myriad of frantic, confused thoughts. _How could she want… why me?... she couldn't_ possibly _want that… I don't think… Don't know_ what _to think…_

One thought ruled them all, though;

 _Do_ I _want that, too?_

Latias realized that she must have been broadcasting her thoughts, thereby letting Kyurem listen to them. _Oh, for the love of Arceus…_ She hoped and prayed that Kyurem didn't read anything into her thoughts. After all, it was only a small part of her that liked being with him… right? She was fairly certain that a large enough part of her still found him unbearably annoying to counter it out. But, if that was true, then… why did she feel her chest twist every time they locked eyes? Why did her breath come in short, heavy gasps whenever they were close to each other, as they were now?

Latias suddenly felt uncomfortable. _I hope it's mostly annoyance. Annoyance is easier to cope with than… whatever_ this _is._

"Um…" she began somewhat timidly, and the verbal sound seemed to be enough to snap Kyurem out of his mental myriad. The Ice type pushed past Latias, but she couldn't help but notice how it wasn't as rough as he could have made it.

 _Oh, Latias, why are you doing this to yourself?_

"We should get started if we ever want a chance to see daylight again," Kyurem grumbled, almost to himself as he reached with his three-clawed arms for a plate that was at the bottom of the nearly ten-foot stack.

"Oh, not that—!"

As Kyurem slipped the plate out, the entire pile rumbled ominously. It stilled for a moment, and both Dragon types were left frozen in suspense. Slowly, the two turned to look at each other, Kyurem harboring great dread in his eyes.

"… I think that it's—."

 _CREEEEEEAK…._

The pile began to shift, and the forty-foot tower of dishes toppled forwards, towards the legends. Just before an iron skillet was about to bash Kyurem on the head, Latias stopped the downfall with a Psychic cushion. Kyurem flinched, then coyly glanced at the dragoness, who smirked weakly back.

"Just in the nick of time, Latias…"

She willed the dishes back to the sink, in a much less precarious pile that wasn't under the constant threat of collapse. She then moved beside Kyurem and joined him in completing the chore.

"Oh, I was tempted to let that skillet hit you," she said casually. "But I'd catch hell from Arceus if I did."

Kyurem scoffed, but said nothing as they worked on in silence. Latias felt a small contentment pulse through her for a while, before it faded. Eventually, she felt one recurring thought settle on her mind, as well as Kyurem's, when she happened to take a look;

 _Do I really want that?_

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

Latios waited until Giratina's form completely disappeared through the portal she'd created before allowing himself to grin nervously. Letting out the breath he'd been holding, the male Eon dragon slumped against the dank cavern wall.

 _Arceus, I really dodged a bullet there,_ he thought to himself. _She was_ this _close to actually killing me._

The Dragon/Psychic type _had_ been provoking Giratina, deliberately of course; but he'd _never_ expected the conversation to play out the way it had.

" _I'm not a blood-thirsty monster, Latios,"_ she'd said. _"Don't assume anything."_ The problem was… with Giratina's disdain of showing emotions other than the negative ones, all Latios _could_ do was assume. He could _try_ reading her body language, or something equally tedious, but the Eon knew that the only way for him to know _anything_ about Giratina for certain was for her to openly state it.

This was a daunting enough task in and of itself, Latios knew that. Giratina had never, as far as he knew, _trusted_ another Legendary. Even Arceus, who always went to great lengths to get to know each of his creations, had never gotten father than Giratina's "alright to be in the same room with" list. The utter impossibility of the feat he was aspiring to undertake was exactly the reason why he asked himself this question;

Why the _heck_ was he doing this?

" _ **Latios?"**_

The Eon dragon snapped out of his thoughts as he heard his name called. "Who's there?" he shouted to the seemingly empty cavern chamber. Latios hesitated for a moment when he heard the voice come again; it sounded rather familiar.

" _ **Is that… really you?"**_

Latios racked his brain for a minute, trying to recall who the voice might have belonged to. It was distinctly male, so that left out Giratina (although _why_ she would ever be looking for him, Latios didn't know) and the Volcarona he'd first met. When he threw in the fact that no one he knew while he was alive, with the quite noticeable exception of Giratina again, were in Turnback Cave, he was left with one option.

"Are you that Raticate I saw earlier? The one with the Volcarona?"

A flicker of shadow moved in front of Latios, and he narrowed his gaze slowly approaching the figure with caution, seeing as how it was most likely a trick. An unsettling chuckle swept across the room.

" _ **No, Latios,"**_ said the voice. _**"You should know who I am…"**_ As the voice finished speaking, the shadow in front of Latios condensed into a recognizable figure; when Latios finally figured out who it was, he flew backwards in shock.

"D-Darkrai?" he asked in surprise. "How are you-? What are you-?"

The specter raised his clawed hand for silence. _**"Alamos Town took its toll on me, Latios,"**_ he said in a saddened, resigned tone. _**"When Palkia brought me back, he didn't save**_ **all** _ **of me…"**_

Latios felt a shaky breath come to him. He wasn't sure whether to be reassured or put-off by the presence of a fellow Legend. On the one paw, he now knew that it was quite possible for a spirit- a Legendary, no less- to survive in Turnback for an extended period of time. Plus, Darkrai would be an extremely useful spirit deterrent, if he had to guess, as the powerful Dark type was extremely adept at achieving quick victories in battle.

However…

Darkrai hadn't always been the most _trustworthy_ Legend in the Hall of Origin. While his loyalty to those he felt personally close to was unbreakable, anyone who was unfortunate enough to be cast _outside_ of that net of protection was subject to the Pitch-Black Pokémon's eternal suspicion. If something stood in the way of one of Darkrai's ideals, he would have no problem casting them aside if it meant reaching his goal. A question suddenly occurred to Latios as all this flew through his smoky head.

"Does Giratina… _know_ you're here?" he asked. "She never mentioned seeing you back up in the Hall, and Alamos was almost four years ago." Darkrai spread his arms in a placating manner.

" _ **I can't speak for the Queen's inaction,"**_ he said dismissively. _**"But Latios; I need your help."**_

The Eon raised an eyebrow, not forgetting that the Legend's specter never answered his question. "With what, exactly?"

There was a slight pause for what Latios guessed to be indecision as to how much information Darkrai should relay to Latios. Needless to say, this didn't help to ease the Dragon type's anxieties.

" _ **I have found a way to return from the dead, Latios,"**_ he said dramatically. _**"And I need you to help me find the things I need to make it happen."**_

Latios blinked, not fully registering the nightmare's words. _Return?_ He wondered in his mind. _Is it really possible? Could I see Latias again?_ The Eon felt his hover falter, and he felt the desire to fall to the ground and break in to tears of joy. He would do _anything_ for the chance to see Latias again, and it didn't even matter if Darkrai was the one presenting the solution. Seeing his sister again was the _only_ thing that mattered.

 _So, that's it?_ protested a voice in the back of his head. _You haven't even heard a price and you're already the equivalent of Darkrai's personal minion?_ Latios felt his brow furrow as he re-read that thought.

 _Darkrai's personal minions…_

The male Eon recalled the quite worrisome standoff that had occurred on his first day in Turnback between Giratina and the two ghosts that had found him first. Giratina had claimed that the "master" the Raticate and Volcarona had spoken of wasn't her. Could it possibly be… Darkrai?

 _If Darkrai is in charge of some ghost rebellion…_ Latios looked up at the phantom. It was obvious that the Dark type was trying to hide it, but Latios could see the desperateness in his dim cyan eye. If his story was true, then this half of Darkrai had been in Turnback for the greater part of five years. Latios could never even come close to understanding what that would feel like, living as a half-being for that long. But he _could_ guess that it meant that Darkrai would do anything possible to come back to life. Even if it meant betraying a fellow Legendary.

 _But… if you don't know how, you'll never be able to see Latias again._ Latios simply couldn't bear the thought that he would _willingly_ give up a chance at seeing his sister again. She was the most important thing in his (after)life! Latias was the thing he loved most, hands down, and he knew that would never change.

Something nagged at him in the back of his mind, but Latios shrugged it off. _I'll help him, but I need to stay alert. The second he starts getting sketchy, I leave._

"Alright," said Latios evenly, nodding his head at the specter. "How can I help?"

Darkrai's grin widened in an almost diabolical fashion, and the former Dark type's claws clenched into a pair of fists. However, the cocky smile soon faded into a defensive snarl, making Latios tilt his head to the side curiously. Then, the male Eon realized several things at once; Darkrai was looking at something behind him… and that _someone_ smelled strongly of nightshade.

 _Giratina._

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

Giratina glared down at the two ghostly Legendaries that were staring at her, one with pure and unbridled hatred coming from his dim cyan eye, and the other with a nervously anxious fear hiding in his foggy red irises. The Distortion Queen growled, the cavern shaking as she did so.

"I wouldn't bother listening to him, Latios," Giratina told the male Eon, prompting a snarl of indignation from Darkrai. "He's been whining and moaning for the past five years about trying to come back to life." Despite her warning, Latios brought his paws together in front of him, twiddling them rather nervously. Giratina's eyes narrowed at his odd behavior. She knew she was intimidating, sure, but Latios had repeatedly proven to be mostly immune to her terror routine. The fact that he'd told her she smelled like a flower when she was ready to bust a Dragon Pulse on his spectral ass was enough evidence of that. So… why be nervous now?

 _He must be hiding something._

"Well…," began Latios uneasily, his tone and demeanor almost instantly confirming her suspicions about him. "Darkrai says he knows how to come back to life… shouldn't we at least _try,_ even if there's almost no chance that it'd—?"

"No."

Giratina kept her expression deadly serious as both Darkrai and Latios blinked and floated backwards in slight surprise to her blunt statement. The Distortion Queen scoffed and rolled her eyes, trying very desperately to ignore the expression of complete and utter hopelessness on Latios' countenance.

"Yeah, not exactly something you'd expect the Underworld leader to say, right?" she told them with the slightest bit of a sardonic tone evident in her voice. "You'd think that I'd want to have a break, and that I wouldn't mind letting a few ghosts loose. But there needs to be a balance of these kinds of things, something neither of you will ever understand. And, despite what you may think, it's not actually in my ability to bring spirits back to life. Arceus made it so that I could never break the basic laws of life. Both of you risked your lives to save some human town, fine by me. But now you've got to live with your moronic choices for the rest of your afterlife, and it's _not_ my place to give you a second chance."

Latios looked completely shocked at Giratina's statement, something that the basilisk had readily expected. She had, after all, literally just told the Dragon that there was _no_ chance of ever seeing his sister again in the bluntest way possible. Before Giratina could contemplate the Eon's reaction any further, Darkrai growled furiously.

" _ **I**_ **deserve** _ **to live, Giratina!"**_ snapped the fallen nightmare Legend. _**"You cannot subject me to a half-life like this! I need closure!"**_ Giratina narrowed her wine-red eyes, her mask closing shut over her face as she shifted into her much more menacing Origin Forme. While Latios floated backwards in a slight panic, Darkrai shifted into a battling position. Giratina's recently-healed wounds twinged in protest against the idea of battling the ghost again, but she knew that the specter needed to be put in his place, especially now that he'd disrespected her in front of Latios.

A small, nagging voice taunted Giratina; _Why would you care about what Latios thinks? When have you_ ever _cared about what_ anyone _thinks?_ The Distortion Queen realized the truth in her subconscious' statement, but she wasn't going to engage in another self-war; not now.

"You had your chance," Giratina growled back through her golden mask. "It's not my fault that idiot Palkia screwed you over. _He_ broke the laws of life, not me. I have no obligation to bring you back, even if I could." Anger quickly eclipsed the shock that had been on Darkrai's countenance, and the ghost clenched his fists again before pointing a jagged, accusing finger at the Distortion basilisk.

" _ **Tread carefully, Giratina,"**_ he said dangerously, a threat easily perceptible in his words. _**"I've defeated you before, and I will have no qualms about doing so again."**_ Giratina scoffed and rolled her eyes, lashing her shadowy tendrils out in a threatening display.

"You _wounded_ me," she corrected, eliciting another growl from the Sinnoh nightmare. "I give you full marks for that, but it's not a victory. At the end of the day, I am Giratina, Queen of Turnback and the Distortion." The Ghost/Dragon type fixed Darkrai with a glare filled with pure power and authority. Much to the basilisk's satisfaction, a sliver of fear wedged itself in the Dark type's eyes. "And I command you to get the hell out of my sight." Without so much as an indignant grunt, Darkrai's ghostly apparition faded into the shadowy fog of Turnback, the malevolent spirit's form being forced far away from the Renegade's imposing power.

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

There was a brief second of silence in the fog-ridden air as Giratina's chest heaved with her slowly dissipating anger, her carmine eyes still glued to the spot where Darkrai had last been with a hateful vengeance. Latios was surprised, if he was being perfectly honest. He'd known full well that Giratina had turned harsh and somewhat cruel because of her job at Turnback. Living a life like hers, with no one to confide in besides a horde of moaning, wailing spirits who only wanted to return to the lives they'd once known… Latios could very easily understand how one would soon grow callous to the world if the only thing you heard day in and day out was suffering and complaining.

And yet… he hadn't expected her to have much of a _philosophy_ when it came to the dead and how they were treated. Honestly, Latios had been expecting Giratina's harsh callousness to rub off on her view of life and death… but if her small speech before getting rid of Darkrai was anything to go by, then it was unmistakably clear that it was sorely _not_ the case. The thought of Giratina having a conscience was enough to make Latios' lips quirk into a half and half smirk/smile, and it felt surprisingly warm and genuine as jolt of pride arced through the Eon's form.

 _Why would Giratina's having a conscience make me feel proud, of all things?_ Latios asked himself, and he was quite surprised to find that he did not have an answer to his own question. It was strange; in his life, Giratina had been nothing more than a bitchy nuisance who Latios had hardly even paid attention to. Now, though… why was everything suddenly different? He was asking her personal questions, trying to understand how she thought, and _now_ he was feeling a sense of accomplishment at figuring out that she had a conscience, as if it was all his own doing. _It's not like I put those ideas into her head,_ Latios tried to rationalize rather helplessly. _She obviously has believed in that for a long period of time. But, still…_ Latios wondered if perhaps he wasn't taking pride in Giratina's morals by itself, but in the fact that she had willingly expressed it, albeit not directly to him and in the form of a threat.

 _I want Giratina to open herself to me,_ Latios realized curiously, a paw coming to his chin pensively. _Why would I ever want that? Before, I only ever really cared about Latias… she's the real reason I saved Alto Mare anyways… so she could be safe._ Although the mere thought of his sister brought a wave of sadness onto the deceased Eon and a prickling sensation behind his eyes, Latios realized through the soft wave of depression that he'd just found his reason.

 _I've always been able to tell anything to and hear anything from Latias, from every moment since we were born,_ Latios realized as the curiosity began to push away his sorrow. It was true; Latias had practically been his second half, and he hers, sharing nearly everything with each other. Now, without her… Latios felt restricted, trapped… _alone._ The blue Eon suddenly found it very easy to relate to Darkrai's pain of being separated from his other half, and being forced to live a half-life. Now that Latios had acknowledged it, he realized that there had been a painful tearing sensation within his chest ever since he'd awakened in Turnback. He had been emotionally and almost physically split in two, and he had been struggling to cope with that and his death without the help of his loving sister.

So… that's great. Latios was lonely, but he knew that was painfully obvious. One thing he thought his emptiness failed to explain was why he kept pestering Giratina about her life like an annoying Mothim. _It's not like I was deliberately trying to pry her apart,_ Latios thought as he recalled his few conversations with the antimatter basilisk. _It just felt like the right thing to do._ Regardless, _doing the right thing_ seemed to be the easiest and fastest way to piss Giratina off so far, and for whatever reason Latios kept insisting on becoming a repeat offender. That left the simple yet vexing question of _why?_

Latios had a very sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't like the answer in the slightest when he figured it out. Unfortunately, his train of thought was rather suddenly interrupted by the glowering basilisk that floated before him.

"What the _hell_ did you think you were doing?"


	7. Catharsis

**Okay, just a small warning; this first part of the chapter has two conversations going on simultaneously, so it may be a little weird to follow. I personally really like how it flows, but it may be tricky to understand who's saying what at times. The sequence will pretty much go "Rayquaza talks to Kyurem"—** _ **Latias thinks to Kyurem—**_ **"Kyurem talks back to Rayquaza"—** _ **Kyurem thinks back to Latias.**_

 **This is honestly my favorite scene in the whole story.**

The Price of a Soul: Chapter 7

"Good Arceus, that was annoying."

Kyurem couldn't help himself as he raised a crystalized eyebrow down at Latias, eyeing the Psychic/Dragon curiously as she put away the final dish from the massive pile that they'd been assigned to clean.

"What exactly was annoying?" he asked, his voice cold but with a noticeable tinge of jest in his voice. "The mountain of dishes, or your antics?" Latias scoffed indignantly and put her oval paws on her red hips, cocking her eyebrows.

"Oh, neither of them," Latias told him, and Kyurem held back the urge to grin as he prepared himself for a comeback. "I was talking about _you."_

"Is that so?" asked Kyurem with a light mirth in his voice, something that somewhat surprised him. "It's pretty hypocritical for _you_ to call _me_ annoying." Latias rolled her large amber eyes, and a knowing smirk flitted across her lips.

"Oh, _I'm_ the hypocrite now?" she asked, wagging a feathered finger up at the much larger Ice Legend. "Even after you've done nothing but—?"

"Hey."

Both Dragons turned around at hearing the new voice. Floating behind them, in the entrance to the Hall's kitchen, was Rayquaza. His cold honey eyes glared into Kyurem's suspiciously, and even from across the room the Unovan could feel the Flying type's hostility. _He's still sore about not staying with Latias,_ Kyurem realized as he evenly met the hardened gaze of the sky serpent before them. The mirthful air of teasing had completely dissolved, and a hostile unease settled in its place. Kyurem's eyes flickered to Rayquaza's tiny claws, watching as they clenched into small fists, and the Ice type inconspicuously settled into a defensive stance.

"Hey, Ray! What's up?" Latias' joyful voice snapped the other two Dragons out of their staring/ego contest. Not surprisingly, Kyurem noticed the scowl on Rayquaza's snout lessen the slightest bit, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. _Can the green worm make it any more obvious about what he feels?_ Obviously trying to mask his quickly-slipping façade, Rayquaza huffed in feigned annoyance and looked away.

"Nothing, Latias," he said in a closed-off tone, and although Latias would probably never realize it, the scales along Rayquaza's emerald snout were tinted red slightly.

 _I'm not a complete moron, Kyurem._

It was all Kyurem could do to avoid turning to face the dragoness beside him and ask _"What?"._ As such, he bore the mental comment with a flinch and tried to uphold his mental conversation with Latias as well as their physical one with Rayquaza.

It was just as difficult as it sounded, turns out.

"So then why are you here?" Kyurem asked, narrowing his eyes at the Sky High Pokémon. As he spoke, his thoughts directed a response to Latias. _I don't recall thinking you were a moron, Latias._

Rayquaza growled quietly, amber eyes flashing dangerously. "I don't think it's your place to question me, _Kyurem."_ As the Sky High 'mon spoke, Latias responded to Kyurem mentally. _Okay, well, you were at least_ thinking _I was dense._

Kyurem's expression dissolved into a small scowl from both the other Dragons' statements. "No need to be so testy, Rayquaza. I was just curious as to why you decided to stop by." _To be honest, you've really been acting like you haven't even noticed, Latias._

"I'm here on Arceus' orders, so don't get too uppity, Kyurem." _Listen, Ice Block, have you ever been mooned over by the blusteriest and most arrogant loner in existence? It's not exactly a cakewalk to deal with._

"I'm not trying to get uppity. I think your pride is clouding your judgment here, as it always does, Rayquaza." _My my, such repressed hostility, Latias. I assume you don't reciprocate the ozone worm's feelings?_

"Last time I checked, _you_ were the one who had a pride issue." _Don't sound so proud of yourself, Ice Block. Would_ you _be one to fall for Rayquaza?_

"Just tell us why you're here, Rayquaza. We have work to do, if you hadn't forgotten." _No, thankfully, but that still doesn't excuse you from telling him directly. Why not just tell him you don't reciprocate?_

"Oh, really? I seem to recall you two laughing and giggling like hatchlings when I first entered. You call that working?" _Would you like to tell him? It should be pretty obvious that he wouldn't take it very well._

"I don't see the issue in trying to lighten the mood during a back-breaking task. Or does your problem lie elsewhere, Rayquaza?" _So, what's your plan then? Just let him fawn over you while you idly fret for the rest of eternity? I expected your sense of sympathy to kick in sooner, Latias._

"Don't question my motives, Kyurem. You're in no place to judge me here." _I'm not heartless, Kyurem. I_ will _let Rayquaza know, just… in my own way._

"You said you're here on Arceus' orders. Did he ask you to inquire about our laughing? Or are you just making excuses at this point?" _Your own way? Now you've got me intrigued. How are you going to tell him without_ actually _telling him?_

"You _dare_ accuse me of making excuses?" _I don't need to justify my life choices to_ you, _Kyurem._

"Yes, Rayquaza, I _do_ dare because there is no way in hell that Arceus asked _you_ to check up on the two of us." _I'm not asking you to, Latias. I just need to know that you won't do something stupid here. I_ am _supposed to be protecting you, after all._

"How exactly do you figure that, Kyurem? Need I remind you that it's not uncommon for Arceus to use me as a messenger because of my extraordinary flight abilities." _Yes, and you've been doing a_ marvelous _job at that. Why should I confide in a protector who tried to wake me up by almost freezing me to death?_

"Yes, you're very impressive, Rayquaza. Did your ego help you miss the fact that you are now the _sole_ protector of Alto Mare, until Arceus releases Latias from my care? He wouldn't be so quick to leave a sacred city unguarded." _You're overreacting. It wasn't_ that _bad a wake-up call. Besides, your attempt at deflecting away from my question only makes it more evident that you're trying to hide something._

"Fine, Kyurem," spat Rayquaza, and the harshness of his tone got the attention of both other Dragons, temporarily pausing their mental tirades. "I'll leave for now. But don't think for a second that I've forgotten this." With that supposedly ominous final comment, Rayquaza turned tail and stormed off, growling furiously to himself. Despite the Sky High Pokémon's evident anger, both Kyurem and Latias immediately wheeled on each other and resumed their argument without missing a beat.

"Trying to _hide_ something?" Latias scoffed, putting her paws on her hips indignantly and glaring up at Kyurem with narrowed amber eyes. "You make it sound like I have some deep, dark secret that involves _you."_

"It would make a lot of sense," Kyurem told her evenly, golden eyes narrowing slightly. "Considering how you were trying to snoop around inside my brain just a few minutes ago." Latias' white countenance flushed in slight embarrassment, but it failed to deter the female Eon from continuing.

"I-I already apologized for that," she told Kyurem with a slight waver in her voice, and she averted her gaze for a moment. "Besides, it's not that important." Kyurem couldn't help the scoff that came to him as he rolled his eyes.

"You were looking in my head, Latias," Kyurem pointed out testily, beginning to get annoyed by the red dragoness' constant deflection. "I want to know why you were poking around in my mental privacy."

"I-I told you it's _nothing._ Why can't you just accept that?"

"Because you keep ducking the question. You're trying to hide something from me, Latias, and I don't appreciate that one bit."

"You don't _appreciate_ it? Sorry, I just assumed I was entitled to keep my motives to myself, considering my brother just died."

"You forfeited your right to privacy when you invaded mine. What were you looking for?"

"I was looking for _answers,_ alright? You happy with that?"

"Not in the slightest. Answers to _what?"_

"Why do you care so much about this, Kyurem? What's your issue with me here?"

" _That_ is absolutely none of your business. Don't try to pin this all on me, Latias."

"Someone's getting rather defensive here. Are you sure _I'm_ the one hiding something?"

"Yes, because you keep avoiding the question! Tell me what you were looking for inside my head!"

"What are _you_ hiding, Kyurem?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

Kyurem's chest heaved as his final words echoed off the white marble of the kitchen. Latias floated backwards slightly, her amber eyes wide and arms curled around her chest. It was obvious she was afraid the Kyurem might _do_ something to her. She'd never know it until much later, but no matter how much he tried to concentrate on how annoying she was, Kyurem couldn't bring himself to lay a claw on Latias at all.

It scared him to think about why, and that was the sole reason he needed to know what Latias had been searching for. It was possible that _she_ had found an answer in Kyurem's head where he was unable to, and that terrified the Ice Legend to his iced-over core. The idea that _someone else_ could ever know his own mind better than he did… it wasn't exactly a pleasant notion for him.

The silence between the two Dragons dragged on for at least a minute, neither of the two moving as the cold, desperate eyes of Kyurem met the warm, confused eyes of Latias. The Boundary 'mon felt his rage subsiding with each heartbeat, the sound of his own pulse beginning to calm him down. After a few more moments of fear and confusion charged silence, Kyurem sighed and turned his head away from Latias, scowling at the wall instead the red dragoness.

"Something's wrong with me, Latias."

Both Legends seemed to get a jolt of surprise at hearing those words come out of Kyurem's mouth. Although his pride wasn't quite as massive as Rayquaza's, it was an extremely rare thing to hear Kyurem admitting that something was amiss with himself. Most times, he wouldn't even admit the problem to _himself._ Now he was doing it to _Latias_ of all 'mon? Something really _was_ wrong.

"I've been feeling… different, as of late. Have you noticed?" Kyurem eyed the female Eon before him carefully, gauging her response. Latias' eyes flickered uncertainly, and her brow furrowed in what looked to be concentration. Either she had no idea what he was talking about… or she had a suspicion about it and was waiting for him to elaborate.

"You've been a constant pain in my ass," Kyurem remarked with a dry chuckle. Much to his surprise, a small smile crept its way onto Latias' snout, and Kyurem felt a strange jolt of warm satisfaction go off inside him. _Why did I react like that? She just smiled at me, nothing more…_

"Normally, I'd have clawed you to shreds by now," Kyurem told Latias slowly, beginning to feel a bit unsure of himself. This kind of conversation was strange and foreign to him. He was much more used to prideful banter, underlying threats, and displays of authority. But this, what he was doing with Latias right now… it felt much more _intimate,_ and Kyurem wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. _Intimacy_ usually wasn't a word associated with him, so he was understandably unnerved. Despite his slight apprehensions, Kyurem continued.

"But, for all your childishness and annoyance," he said, drawing an eye roll from Latias, "something seems to be holding me back from lashing out. Like there's a part of me that…" Kyurem's voice faded as he thought over how to finish that sentence. Why _wasn't_ he hurting Latias? Had anyone else been annoying and pestering him that often, he most definitely would have snapped. Instead… she was different. The issue was a burdensome one, and the more he thought about it, the less he understood. Sighing to himself, Kyurem glanced up to meet Latias' amber eyes.

 _This is why I need to know what you saw in my head, Latias,_ he told her telepathically, and he could see the red Eon's head tilt slightly in confusion. _Something is truly wrong with me. I'm not acting the way I should, and I can't find a reason for it. I need you to tell me what you saw, not because I'm worried of what_ you _know, but because I'm terrified of what I_ don't _know._

A brief flicker of surprise crossed Latias' countenance, but it quickly cleared and was replaced by a soft smile. Another bolt of warmth shot through Kyurem's chest, but he ignored it as best he could as Latias responded to him vocally.

"I… I'm a little flattered, actually," she said quietly, and Kyurem swore he saw a faint blush taint her cheeks, although he instantly berated himself for noticing. "I mean… I'm kinda glad that you're talking this over with me instead of… I don't know… pinning me down and forcing me to tell you." Kyurem gave a chuckle, and he found it strange that it didn't feel quite as empty as the other ones.

"I've learned that you're pretty stubborn, Latias," Kyurem told her in a slightly mocking tone, prompting another eye roll from the amber-eyed dragoness. "I figured it'd be a better use of both our time if I just straight-up asked you." Latias closed her eyes and gave a small nod, indicating that she had thought the same.

"And I'm grateful for that," Latias told him with an odd undertone to her voice that made Kyurem anxious. Her voice sounded _warm_ and _compassionate,_ and he'd never had anyone treat him with those comforting emotions before… or at least, not for a good long while. Kyurem was understandably caught off guard by how he was finally receiving some warmth for perhaps the first time in his life from the bane of his existence. It was more confusing than he cared to think about, but the idea that someone who seemed so annoying to him could bring out such foreign feelings in him almost made him smile. Almost. He couldn't _completely_ ruin his image as a terrifying ice beast, or else Latias would never let him live it down. _But why would I care about what she thought of me?_

"I'm really not quite sure what I saw," Latias told him suddenly, snapping the Unovan Legend out of his thoughts. His golden eyes narrowed suspiciously, and Latias put up her red paws in defense. "Hey, I'm telling you the truth here," she continued with the smallest smirk visible at the corners of her mouth, as if she were slightly amused by his persistent curiosity. _I suppose she finds it funny that our roles have suddenly reversed;_ I'm _the one pestering her nonstop, and_ she's _the one who's trying to figure out how to deal with me._ The thought made Kyurem roll his eyes at the ridiculousness of their situation.

"I could _definitely_ tell you're just as confused as you claim to be," Latias told him eventually after some thought. "It was like trying to walk through a blizzard with no protection at all." Kyurem nodded, but he could tell be the odd look in Latias' eyes that she wasn't done yet; she'd been able to pick something out of the wintery chaos that had been his mind.

"I did see something, although I have no idea if it relates to your issues," Latias continued, quirking an eyebrow at the Unovan Legend that towered above her. "Well, I guess I really didn't _see_ it so much as _feel_ it." Kyurem blinked in confusion at hearing this descriptor.

"You _felt_ something?" he asked with a cold curiosity in his voice. "What exactly did you _feel?"_ As he pressed for answers, Kyurem noticed the beginnings of a rosy blush dusting Latias' white cheeks, and this set the Boundary Pokémon on edge. _It makes her nervous,_ he realized by gauging her expression. _Which means she's either terrified by what she found… or it somehow pertains to_ her. Kyurem wasn't quite sure what he would do with himself if it ended up involving Latias. He'd almost rather have her be terrified of him instead of… whatever this was.

"I, um… I felt…" Latias' apparent nervousness became so great that she averted her eyes from Kyurem's, sending another twinge of anxiety through him and prompting him to narrow his eyes at the uneasy dragoness. After taking a long second to collect herself, Latias continued (without meeting his stare, Kyurem noted duly).

"I felt a… a warmth." After making her statement, Latias nodded in satisfaction, clearly agreeing with her choice of words. "Yes, a warmth. I'm not sure why it was there or if it's been doing anything to you, but there's a warmth in your hear—sorry, in your _mind,_ Kyurem."

The Ice Legend overlooked Latias' gentle misspeak in lieu of her actual answer. _A warmth? Inside_ me, _a heartless bastard made of ice and left half empty by his own counterparts?_ Kyurem was tempted to call Latias out on a bluff, but something in her amber eyes stopped him. He could see the genuineness in them, and the Ice type instantly knew she was telling the truth.

Beyond that… what was the warmth coming from? It certainly wasn't some sappy notion that _my heart has grown three sizes_ or _I have decided to end my evil ways._ Something was _causing_ his symptoms(for lack of a better term), and Kyurem began to wonder what it could possibly stem from. _Perhaps Latias found an answer to this while… ugh,_ snooping _around in my brain._

"Do you happen to know if this warmth is… connected to anything?" Kyurem winced internally at how exposing his question was, but it was something he desperately needed to know. The idea that warmth had blossomed inside him was disturbing enough, but if it was the result of a _person…_ then Kyurem would really need to get a grip on his life.

"Oh! U-um, about that…" Latias' voice, even more anxious than before, brought Kyurem from his contemplation. However, the anxiety in the Eon dragoness' voice seemed… different than before. Almost as if there were faint amounts of hope lingering in her words, hidden under all the fear and uncertainty…

"Y-you want to know if i-it's connected to anything?" Latias asked with that same hopeful anxiety, and Kyurem narrowed his golden eyes suspiciously.

"Yes, Latias, that is what I meant," he said with a vague, icy undertone in his voice. "Quit avoiding the question _again_ and give me a straight answer for once. What is the warmth connected to?" Something in Latias' expression changed as Kyurem asked her the same question for the umpteenth time that say. The fear that had lingered in her deep amber eyes dissolved completely, replaced by a powerful determination.

"You want to know what's going on in your own brain?" Latias asked him venomously, and the stark contrast between her meekness just a second ago and her assertiveness now caught Kyurem severely off guard. "Why don't you just find it _yourself_ instead of drilling _me_ about it! How in the _world_ can I _possibly_ know your own head better than _you?_ Are you insane?" The final comment about sanity was enough to bring Kyurem from his shocked stupor, and he growled loudly.

"You don't get to question my motives!" Kyurem shouted, the anger in his voice making the ground shake slightly. Strangely enough, Latias' expression remained determined as ever.

"I get to decide what I _say!"_ Latias retaliated hotly, and Kyurem's icy snarl etched deeper lines into his frozen snout. "I'm deciding not to tell you this because there's no way you'll ever believe it! You'll call me a liar and keep pestering me for _the real answer_ and you'll never accept the truth, because that's all you do!"

" _What?!"_

"Yes, Kyurem, you _run_ from the truth," Latias said seriously, a determined and angered flame burning in her eyes. Her tone was filled to the brim with unbridled, unfamiliar emotions, and it only served to feed the Ice type's anger. "You know, deep down, you _know_ what's causing this, and you do absolutely _anything_ possible to avoid acknowledging it. Wake up and face the music, Kyurem! You can't stay sheltered in ignorance forever." The Boundary Pokémon growled, and his small fists clenched violently.

" _I'm_ the one being sheltered in ignorance?" retaliated Kyurem indignantly, a bit of frost spilling from his lips as he did so. "You sit there like a high-and-mighty Psychic type and try to tell me that I don't _deserve_ to _know_ what's going on in my own head!" Latias' large amber eyes narrowed, and a scowl became clearly etched on her countenance. Kyurem's anger faltered for a split second as he contemplated how strange Latias looked when she was angry. The angered glare and withering scowl seemed so alien on the dragoness' countenance, as if she were designed never to be anything but happy and carefree. Thankfully, his reverie didn't last very long, and Kyurem's next comeback came out as a low, threatening hiss.

"Unless, what you're _really_ saying," Kyurem spat lowly, looking down his crystalized snout at Latias, who returned his gaze with equal fury, "is that you haven't the _slightest_ idea what's happening." At hearing these words, Kyurem noticed Latias' expression completely shift through a myriad of rampant emotions; hurt, disbelief, and finally a swell of anger. Kyurem felt a jolt of unease slip its way past his anger; Latias was truly and fully enraged at him, and nothing in the world could prepare Kyurem for what she would say next.

"IT'S _MY_ FAULT, ALRIGHT?"

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

"What the _hell_ did you think you were doing?"

Latios was rather abruptly snapped from his pensive stupor to find Giratina's massive serpentine form snarling down at him, her wine-red eyes and golden mask alike glinting maliciously. Caught completely off guard, Latios felt his throat close up in a mix of anxiety and fear, although he wasn't sure which of the two was greater in prominence. Giratina snarled loudly, the cavern shaking slightly as she did so, and Latios flinched back a few more aerial paces.

"No answer?" Giratina snapped, the tips of her shadowy tendrils glowing an eerie red as her body's red markings began to light up in her rage. The sight of the Renegade was truly terrifying, but Latios felt a small twinge as the thought crossed his mind that she actually looked rather beautiful in her glowing anger…

"You absolute _moron!" Well, maybe she's not_ that _pretty after all._ Latios' snide inner comment seemed to be enough to free his throat from the confines of anxiety, and he soon found himself able to respond to Giratina's angry interrogation without much further delay.

"What makes me a moron all of the sudden?" Despite the severity of Giratina's anger, Latios still found that he was fully capable of crossing his spectral arms. Unfortunately for the Eon, Giratina's snarl deepened, and her red markings glowed brightly, filling the cave with a deep crimson glow.

"Don't get all uppity on me!" Giratina snapped, and Latios unwillingly caught a whiff of her warm nightshade breath, the familiar scent sending a warm, relaxing pulse through the Eon's body. _My priorities are so screwed up._ "First, you decided it was a good idea to start pissing me off, which was all fine and dandy. I mean, I should have _expected_ Mr. Goody-No-Shoes to grate on my nerves anyways…" Latios frowned at the newest nickname bestowed upon her by the Renegade. _Goody-No-Shoes? And before that, See-Through? Where does she come up with this stuff?_ Latios was abruptly brought back to reality when Giratina's tendrils lashed out, and their glowing crimson tips were all pointed at him.

"Then I go off to check another part of Turnback," Giratina continued angrily, her wine-red eyes boring holes into Latios' skull and making him shrink back unconsciously. "I come back a few minutes later, thinking 'there's no _possible_ way the moron could have gotten himself in trouble this quickly'. And what do I find you doing? Care to tell me?" Latios hesitated for a moment, unsure if the question made by the glowering dragoness was rhetorical or not. _I think, by the way she's staring at me, she wants an answer._

"Well… I was—."

"You were _talking_ and _scheming_ with _Darkrai_ about _bringing 'mon back to life!"_ Giratina's fury cut Latios' meek response off, her markings flashing threateningly with each emphasis she put on her words. "What the actual hell! Are you _really_ so thick-headed so as to think that you can just up and die, waltz into Turnback, and just _decide_ to break the laws of life?" Latios' ghostly teeth clenched indignantly. Despite the Renegade's anger, the male Eon found a strange confidence swell inside him; as if Giratina's rage no longer held any sway over him. Of course, Latios made a conscious decision to _not_ pursue the _reason_ for his sudden immunity to the Distortion Queen's rage, and instead decided to count his blessings.

"Well, can you really blame me?" Latios was surprised by the acerbity in his voice, and apparently so was Giratina. Her anger faltered somewhat, and Latios could see in her swirling ruby eyes that she was intrigued by his snapping back at her… and perhaps also a little impressed? _That's just what I_ wish _she was thinking about me,_ Latios reasoned with himself. _She's probably thinking about how much of a moron I am, really._ Why did the thought of that make his heart sink the slightest bit?

"I mean, think about what I was like when I was alive," Latios began, spreading his paws out wide as if adding _and look how much things have changed._ "All I cared about was my baby sister. Everything I thought about, cared about, _everything_ went through her. I was never alone, Giratina, don't you see?" The Renegade's snarl lessened; just by the smallest iota. Latios resisted the rather strong urge to smirk, but he still couldn't help the small twitch of pride that resounded in his ghostly chest. _What is wrong with me?_ he thought through his determination to make his point to Giratina. He shrugged off both the sensation and the thought in lieu of his argument.

"I always had someone there for me, someone to do… _anything_ with, and when I died it was all yanked away from me." Latios averted his gaze to the ground, feeling some small amount of self-conscious heat rise to his spectral cheeks. "So, when I woke up here… with _you,_ of all 'mon…" Latios exhaled with a heavy sigh, and he didn't miss the way Giratina rolled her eyes at his drama. Her reaction almost made him smile, although he didn't really know why. Latios supposed it was somewhat comforting; in all the chaos that had comprised the first day or so of his afterlife, the male Eon found a strange solace in the Distortion Queen's usual acerbity towards his antics.

"… it was hard." Latios looked up to meet Giratina's wine-colored stare, which was as enraged as ever. "You refuse to talk with me for the most part, and when we _do_ talk you act like I'm trying to _degrade_ you or something stupid like that…" Latios sighed and crossed his spectral arms across his grey chest, looking away from the basilisk that glared holes into his form with her angry eyes. "I just needed a friend, Giratina," he continued quietly. "I was… well, if I'm being honest… I'd been hoping that friend would be _you."_ Latios' words had an obvious effect on Giratina. A flicker of confusion passed over her carmine irises, and Latios noticed her anger fade slightly as her markings began to dim down.

 _She must be really surprised by my motives to have cut off her rage so suddenly,_ Latios contemplated as he continued to gauge Giratina's reaction. _She's probably never had anyone come to her as a friend before. She doesn't know how to react._ Unfortunately for Latios, during his proud inner triumph, he'd missed the fact that Giratina's markings had begun to glow again, even brighter than before.

"Are you _really_ that idiotic?" Latios flinched at the harshness of the Distortion Queen's voice. The male Eon had a sudden flashback to when he'd found Giratina wounded in her inner chamber. She had been extremely pissed, sure, but… Latios couldn't help but notice that the same note of _fear_ rang through Giratina's fury.

 _What reason would she have to even be afraid?_ Latios wondered to himself, his curiosity dampening his fear of being ripped to shreds by the very dragoness that was glowering down at him. _I mean, the first time she reacted like this I was talking about taking care of her…_ Latios _hmm_ ed in thought. _And this time, it's about wanting a friend. Could her reaction be related to—?_

"Pay attention, moron!"

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

Giratina continued to glare wine-red daggers into Latios' head as she snapped at him. He'd been quiet for much too long, and she began to suspect that he was trying to pick apart her motives for getting pissed off at him. _I may as well quell his curiosities, so he doesn't try to find his own answers._

"This is my problem, Latios," Giratina hissed, dipping her massive head down to be eye level with the deceased Eon in question. _That idiot just took a deeper breath,_ she realized as Latios' chest heaved a little with their new proximity. _He'd better not be smelling me. I'm supposed to be the intimidating ruler of hell, not a dragoness who smells like some flower. Ugh._

"You're here, acting like you're the _only_ one who has problems," she told him dangerously, making sure to keep talking so he couldn't interrupt her with one of his stupid yet insightful comments. "Sure, you're lonely now that you've died. Can you honestly tell me that you're surprised by that, Latios? That you didn't expect your life to be completely turned upside down by your death? Because, let me tell you this; my life has been screwed over just as bad as yours, if not _more."_ A flicker of indignation crossed Latios' spectral countenance, but Giratina pressed onwards with her argument before he could interject.

"Don't even start with me, See-Through," she told him, and a tiny satisfied smirk came to the Renegade's face as she saw a frown cross Latios' face. "So you lost your sister. You feel alone, trapped, unable to express yourself. Don't you think I've seen that before? I get _everything_ down here, Latios; I get widows, I get the unfortunate baby boy that dies young, I get the sister who lives a half-life now that her older brother is gone. I've _seen_ it all, Latios, you must believe me on that. I _understand_ that you've felt pain and sadness when you died but, frankly, that _doesn't_ excuse you from thinking that your problems are the only ones in the world. Especially down here, where everyone is a moping spirit who can't get over their regrets."

"How do you explain to these souls that I _can't_ pervert the laws of nature so they can see their loved ones again? Do you think that'd make me extremely popular? There's a _reason_ that I'm a cutthroat bitch; it's because I _have_ to be. Latios, you of all living creatures should know that you'll do anything, and I mean _anything,_ for family. For these lonely souls, _anything_ means taking out the obstacle standing between them and life. _I'm_ the obstacle, Latios, and I _cannot_ allow myself to falter, not even for a second." Giratina paused for a quick second, gauging Latios' reaction to her kind-of-not-really catharsis. He seemed to have been beaten by her words into a stunned silence; obviously, he'd never have expected something this _reasonable_ to come out of her rather infamous mouth. _So why am I bothering to explain this at all to him? What's the point of giving the dead hero a spiel about why I can't bring him back?_ Although she didn't fully acknowledge it at the time, Giratina's subconscious had supplied an answer to her.

 _Because you want him to know you're not a monster._

Giratina growled and shook her head clearing her thoughts as well as refocusing her attention on Latios. "Just get out of my sight, Latios," she mumbled dejectedly, her anger beginning to taper away now that she'd had some form of a release. To be perfectly honest, she was getting (a little) self-conscious about having just explained her philosophy on life and death to Latios. "I don't want to deal with you right now." Internally, Giratina was hoping and praying that Latios would, for once, follow her command and leave. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

Slowly, cautiously, Giratina saw Latios' moving towards her like he had when she'd been injured, just yesterday. _Has it only been one day? Has it truly taken so little time for everything to dissolve into chaos around here?_ Giratina suddenly noticed that Latios was slowly raising one of his paws, and the oval pad seemed to be outstretched in her direction…

The Renegade's breath caught in her throat as Latios' smoky paw drew closer and closer to her, and yet she found herself unable to retreat from the contact she so desperately wanted to avoid. _By all things un-sacred, just_ move away! _What the hell are you doing?_ Giratina's mental cries of dissatisfaction were drowned out by something else, something… warmer. The serpentess suddenly found herself… _anticipating_ the Eon's touch, yet at the same time she wanted to flee to the furthest corner of Turnback and escape him all the same. Giratina just wanted to be alone, away from Latios, away from his idiotic questions, away from his innocent probing, away from his _caring…_

Giratina let out a murmur of surprise as she felt something soft and furred brush against her stone-colored cheek. Latios was watching her carefully, ready to move away if she got violent, but there was something else in his eyes; more of that infernal _caring_ that she so despised, that _caring_ that somehow managed to always set her heart beating twice as fast (as it was now, she noted warily). Blood, heat, and embarrassment rose to the basilisk's face as she felt Latios' gentle paw move across her skin, each point of contact sparking an incredibly idiotic yet _pleasing_ feeling of warmth inside her.

Latios smiled suddenly, his paw still gently caressing her enflamed cheek. There was something about the genuine sign of happiness that came from the Eon that sent another infuriating ping of warmth throughout Giratina's chest, and her breath came to her short and heavy as her heartbeat roared in her ears as a delirious confusion swept over her. _I need to see a doctor. I've got no idea what the heck is wrong with me._

"You smiled."

The two innocent words completely caught Giratina off guard, but the odd and pulsing warmth that radiated from their point of contact left Giratina unable to do anything else but remain frozen in place and murmur a small "what?" in response.

"I mean, I've seen you smirk before," Latios said quietly, and Giratina felt a shiver course through her as the thumb of Latios' paw began stroking her cheek gently. _I am not enjoying this. I refuse to._ "But, I don't think I've ever seen you full-on _smile_ before, and it… it looks nice." These words were enough to bring Giratina from her odd, confusingly warm stupor, and she shook her masked head and snorted, flicking away Latios' paw. A small look of disappointment crossed the male Eon's features, but it was almost completely overwhelmed by the massive smile that was painted across his snout.

 _He touched me,_ Giratina thought through her daze as the warmth began to taper away slowly. _He touched me, and I don't want to tear him apart and feed him to the Houndoom. Why the hell not?_ Giratina found herself unable to form a rational answer to her own question, so she instead opted to create a swirling portal into the Distortion and dive through it. She didn't care _where_ she was going, but she just had to get away from all this warmth, this happiness, this _caring,_ good Arceus, all his _caring!_

The Renegade Pokémon flew through the Distortion with embarrassment and confusion racing through her mind, while the Eon Pokémon's ghost remained where he floated and smiled a small, contented smile.


	8. Call of Champions

**The beginning part with Raticate and Volcarona may seem vague at first, but it'll make more sense by the end of the chapter. Probably.**

 **Also, the scene with Giratina in the library towards the middle of the chapter is a reference to one of my other stories,** _ **At Least, I Hope.**_ **Sorry if it just seems kind of random.**

 **Now. Shall we begin?**

Price of a Soul: Chapter 8

"IT'S _MY_ FAULT, ALRIGHT?"

There was a brief moment of tense silence as Latias' words rang in the air between her and Kyurem. A light of confusion eclipsed the anger that was in Kyurem's eyes and, in seeing that confusion, it suddenly dawned on Latias what exactly she had just yelled out loud. With a small squeak, Latias' red paws flew to her mouth as she felt a wave of dread settle over her. _I… I didn't just say that, did I?_ she thought in a panic. _Arceus, how do I get myself out of this one?_

"You could start by explaining what you meant," Kyurem snapped lowly, his eyes narrowed and scowl twisted in annoyance and rage. "What do you mean, it's _your_ fault? _You've_ been doing this to me? What the heck for?" Latias felt her snout flush at Kyurem's direct demands for an answer, and she averted her eyes nervously. She had _never_ intended to tell that to Kyurem, but he'd gotten her so _angry,_ and it just slipped out…

It didn't make sense why she was afraid _now_ as opposed to the million other times she'd annoyed the Unovan in the past. After all, she'd intentionally pissed Kyurem off countless times before and never so much as showed a twitch of fear. Why was this time different? It would certainly be amusing to watch his reaction, Latias had no doubt about that. So why had she been so afraid for Kyurem to know what she'd seen?

 _Because you're forcing yourself to admit the same truth about yourself, and that terrifies you more than anything._

"I-i-i-it's not that s-simple, Kyurem," Latias stuttered out, hating how her voice wavered. The Ice Legend in front of her exhaled loudly, and a cloud of frost spilled from the Dragon's snout, chilling Latias to the core and making her shudder.

"Well, it better get real simple real fast, Latias," Kyurem growled to her, his petite claws clenching into grey fists. "Are you doing this on purpose?" Latias flinched at the vicious tone of her protector's voice, but she found it within herself to continue speaking.

"W-well… it's kind of my fault a-and kind of _not_ my f-fault…" Latias twiddled her claws anxiously, and her gaze continuously flickered back and forth from the tiled ground to Kyurem's interrogating, scrutinizing eyes.

"Explain yourself, Latias," Kyurem demanded once more, and Latias didn't miss how his voice had a harder edge to it than before, signaling that his patience was beginning to wear thin. "What have you done to me to make me feel this _warmth_ you told me about?" Latias flinched once again, and she took a deep and shuddering breath before raising her head to meet Kyurem's harsh yellow gaze evenly.

"I-I swear, Kyurem, i-it's nothing I'm doing o-on purpose…" Latias said placatingly, although her voice still wavered. "B-but still… I-I'm not sure i-if you'll like th-the answer I have…" Kyurem growled and advanced at hearing this, causing Latias to back up in slight fear. The younger Eon gave a squeak of surprise as she felt the wall behind her, indicating that she had nowhere else to go. Kyurem lowered his crystallized head down to Latias' level, pinning the smaller Psychic against the wall with his cold golden stare.

"I don't care what _you_ think _I_ would think about what you saw," Kyurem hissed, his frigid breath sending an eerie shiver down Latias' spine, though it wasn't entirely from the cold. "I just want to know, got it?" Latias remained frozen in fear, her throat closing as Kyurem's empty golden eyes continued to tear into her. After a split eternity of silence, Kyurem sighed and closed his eyes for a minute, causing Latias to tilt her head in confusion.

 _I don't want to hurt you, Latias,_ said Kyurem's voice in her head, his expression perfectly matching the tired tone of his mental voice. _But I_ must _know why you've done this to me. Please._ Latias gasped quietly in surprise; she had never expected to hear anything even remotely close to an _apology_ come out of Kyurem's mouth, not ever in her eternal life. _Next thing you know, Giratina's gonna be falling in love._

Latias felt her lips twitch slightly, as if her body couldn't decide whether or not it should smile. "Th-that's the thing, Kyurem…" she said quietly, although there was a strength to her voice that surprised both Dragons equally. "It's gonna sound super ridiculous, a-and you'll probably call me crazy, but…" Latias felt a final wave of anxiety wash over her as she opened her mouth to give her explanation to Kyurem. Was telling him the truth really the best thing for them both? Beyond that, would he even _believe_ the short and contrite answer she was about to give? Latias wasn't quite sure, and the anxiety was killing her. Unfortunately, in her indecisiveness, Latias' lips began to move without her even thinking about it.

"I-I think you love me."

Latias braced herself for Kyurem's response, every muscle in her body tensed and ready to escape if Kyurem tried anything in response to her rather extreme answer. Honestly, Latias expected to only have a few more seconds of life in her before being frozen in a block of ice by Kyurem, never to be heard from again. Despite her expectation of punishment, Latias was glad to have told Kyurem that he loved her. Kyurem needed to know that it was _okay_ to let his guard down, that it was _okay_ to feel emotions. Latias needed him to open up to her, and it just so happened that, in the deepest recess of Kyurem's mind, _he_ wanted to open up, too. There was a conflict inside him, a violent one between his familiar cold demeanor and the foreign warmth of his love for Latias. The Unovan was so inexperienced in matters of the heart and soul that he had failed to recognize the warmth as _love;_ instead, he'd assumed it had been some kind of ailment or disease. Latias saw a broken Legend whenever she looked at Kyurem, and the deep well of compassion in her heart refused to let him remain broken any longer.

Then there was also the possibility that Latias may _return_ his feelings…

"… what?" Kyurem spoke suddenly, his voice a ghostly whisper as Latias returned from her thoughts with severe surprise. Kyurem was shocked by her reverse-confession, that much was obvious, but… there was none of the _hate_ or _rage_ that Latias had been suspecting in his eyes. Instead, there was anxiety, fear and, if she looked hard enough… _hope._ Seeing that hope in Kyurem's eyes made Latias' heart swell with pride and joy, and she felt a warm smile creep onto her snout. _He wants to love me,_ she thought as the pair's eyes met once again. _He's never known it until now, but he's wanted to be loved all his life…_

"You know it's true," Latias said softly, her voice nothing but a breathy whisper. Her heart was pounding wildly against her ribcage, and she could feel heat rise to her cheeks. "You've never been loved before, Kyurem, and I… I want you to know what it feels like." Kyurem's golden eyes widened just a hair, and Latias felt her smile widen at the sight of it.

"No, Latias," Kyurem said weakly, as if trying to convince himself instead of her. "I-I can't love you. It just doesn't make any sense." Despite his words, Latias chuckled quietly under her breath and reached out with one of her soft paws. For all the things wrong with the Unovan's anatomy, Latias was suddenly extremely grateful that his claws were the same size as hers as she gently grasped them, prompting a soft murmur of surprise from Kyurem.

"Of course this doesn't make sense," Latias insisted gently, squeezing Kyurem's claws softly and relishing in the feeling of completeness than ran through her body. "Not everything _has_ to make sense. All that matters is that this feels _right,_ Kyurem. We can't explain it to anybody, we can't put it into words… but we know it's there, and it feels _good."_

Silence. Kyurem's golden eyes were trained directly on Latias' amber ones, and they refused to separate. The young Eon could see shock and disbelief swirling in her companion's eyes, but she could also see the trace amounts of hope that still lingered in them. Without even reading his mind Latias could see that, despite the fact that he was confused and slightly afraid, Kyurem wanted to love her just as much as she did him. A nervous smile flickered across Latias' snout as she relished in the comforting feeling of them being _together,_ joined by their claws and connected by their gazes, and the red Eon realized she never wanted this moment to end. She realized that she wanted to make Kyurem happy, and make them both feel _warm_ and _complete_.

Latias realized that she loved Kyurem back, and all the Ice type had to do was accept that it was possible.

"Ah, there you are."

Both Legends whirled around to the entrance of the kitchen in surprise at hearing the new voice greet them. Latias felt her paw slip out of Kyurem's as they turned, and a cry of despair sounded in her heart as they turned to face the speaker; Arceus. The Normal type smiled down at his two creations benevolently, completely unaware of the emotional tension he had just dissipated.

"Would you two kindly follow me? I've something to discuss regarding your situation."

Latias and Kyurem glanced at each other; one pair of eyes cold and conflicted, the other pair warm and accepting. After a second, Kyurem nodded at her and Latias nodded back, and the two Dragons followed their Alpha out of the kitchen, leaving a pile of jumbled emotions and a storm of internal conflict in their wake.

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

"Are you sure this is the only way?"

Volcarona barely registered her Raticate friend's question as the both stared out the open mouth of Turnback Cave. The two spirits were hovering just inches away from the line of sunlight left by the cavern roof. She knew full well that what she had in mind was dangerous. But there was no other way, despite what she would have liked to believe. The Bug type didn't look at her partner when she responded, keeping her gaze firmly on the tree line just beyond the cave's mouth.

"Darkrai needs a Legendary soul to return to the living," Volcarona said softly, a somberness falling between the two. "He intends to take Latios', or perhaps the Queen's, and neither of them deserve that fate thrust upon them. Not for Darkrai." Raticate scoffed quietly, shaking his dull brown mane gently.

"And your proposed souls do deserve it?" he asked her skeptically, quirking an eyebrow and glancing up and Volcarona. "You do realize there's a _very_ good chance that this won't even work. You can't just trade one soul for another like this. Their souls will be sent who-knows-where, and no one deserves that." Volcarona sighed gently, closing her eyes for a moment longer than usual. Raticate was right; the risk she was undertaking was huge. Not only for Latios, but for herself. There was no guarantee that they would even _make_ it to where they needed to go, but she knew they needed to try. It was that, or let Darkrai succeed, and there was no way in Distortion that she would ever let that happen.

"No one deserves it," Volcarona agreed solemnly. "And yet we're about to attempt it anyway." Raticate gave an empty chuckle, shaking his furred head once again.

"Well, we have been rather stupid, even in life," he pointed out bittersweetly. "Kinda makes sense that we'd be stupid in death, too." Volcarona chuckled as well, appreciating her partner's attempt to lighten the mood. It didn't work, not at all, but she appreciated the attempt nonetheless. There was a long, calm silence until Raticate spoke again.

"You know you can die, right?" he asked, a warm concern audible in his voice, and Volcarona felt her own chest flutter with a dull warmth at knowing her partner cared about her.

"Yes," she said succinctly, still staring beyond Turnback's grasp. "You could, too. Don't forget that." Raticate chuckled once again at this.

"My journey is far less hazardous than yours," Raticate pointed out. "I know exactly where he'll be this time of day; Kanto's practically next door. But you have to go to Unova… and that much time in the sun will probably kill you, Rona." The Bug type chuckled emptily, knowing what her Normal type companion said to be true.

"I am the Sun Pokémon," she said sadly, as if it were a title she could no longer bear. "If anyone can survive this, I certainly can." Raticate _hmmed_ in thought for a few seconds before turning his head back to look at Volcarona.

"You know I love you, right?" Volcarona smiled sadly and looked down at her partner, seeing the worry and fear that sat behind his eyes.

"And I love you back, as you should know," Volcarona responded, and their twin confessions of affection hung in the heavy silence for a long while, the two of them enjoying each other's company for just a little bit longer. Eventually, Raticate broke the silence once again.

"Are you ready, Rona? To see them again?"

A sigh. A long blink.

"Yes. I've wanted this for so long."

A nod from Raticate. "Then let's go. We don't have much time."

"Agreed. The sun is our enemy here; let's not give it the upper hand."

The Rat and the Sun dashed out of Turnback cave, and they both felt their souls beginning to dissolve already. The two spirits disappeared into the woods, each hoping that they could get to their destination before their time was up.

They knew the world wouldn't give them another chance.

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

Giratina emerged from one of her purple Distortion portals and into the Hall of Origin's library. Her wine-red irises squinted suspiciously at her surroundings as she glared at the towering bookcases as if she could set them on fire.

 _Really,_ Giratina mentally huffed, _I'm all caught-off-guard by Latios, and the first place the Distortion brings me to is the_ library? The Renegade snarled to herself quietly, trying desperately not to remember what had just happened between her and Latios just moments before. The event itself didn't really bother her, not really… after all, she was Giratina, the feared and malevolent Distortion Queen. Not some pathetic… pathetic… Bah.

Giratina closed her eyes and sighed roughly. _It's affecting me,_ Giratina admitted to herself finally, hating that she was left with no other option. _I hate it to the ends of the earth, but… it's affecting me more than it should._ The basilisk felt confined by her sacrilegious thoughts and emotions, and it wasn't like anything she'd ever had to deal with before.

Before all this confusion (before _Latios,_ really), Giratina had made sure that every single spirit in Turnback knew that she was _not_ to be trifled with. Her rule was absolute. If she so much as caught a spirit eyeing her in a suspicious way, then she would instantly lash out. Giratina knew that it wasn't exactly the best way to become popular, but it was essential for the ghosts and specters to understand that she was not a ruler whose power could be abused. The basilisk had to make sure to quell any possible threats before they happened, and when dealing with ghosts bent on returning to their loved ones, that meant ruling with an iron fist and a heartless personality. But, when _Latios_ had arrived…

Everything had changed.

"Giratina?"

The dragoness raised her head to face her speaker, a scowl of annoyance already forming on her face. Hovering in front of her, eyes closed and brow furrowed in concern was none other than Uxie, the Being of Knowledge. _Of course this bookworm would be in the library. Where else would he be?_ Regardless, Giratina snarled at the much smaller Legend threateningly. Even though his eyes were always closed and he'd never actually _see_ any threatening displays she made, being intimidating had simply evolved into a habit of the basilisk's.

"What do you want, pipsqueak?" she snapped at Uxie, whose brow furrowed in annoyance at the derogatory nickname. "I'm busy." The much smaller Psychic type's arms crossed over his chest and opened his mouth, and Giratina could sense that a comeback was inevitable. However, the Being of Knowledge paused for a second, countenance frozen for a moment, and Giratina felt a ripple of surprise wash over her. She instilled fear into most of the smaller Legendaries, but Uxie was one of the few smaller ones who dared to talk back to Giratina when she was angry. Now, though… Uxie seemed to think better of it. Closing his mouth as a hard, reserved expression crossed his face, Uxie simply turned tail and floated up a few feet to access a bookshelf, not even bothering to respond to Giratina's harsh question.

Giratina almost sputtered in surprise. It was one thing when someone didn't respond to her because she was being vindictive or harsh, and they were afraid or just plain tired of her anger. The Renegade was quite used to it after the countless millennia that she'd been alive, and she'd learned to simply take it in stride as another perk of her job. However, being flatly ignored by Uxie was something _entirely_ different. Being ignored made her angrier than being insulted did, as a matter of fact. Giratina growled quietly to herself and ground her teeth, shifting into her Origin Forme so she could float next to Uxie and glare at the sprite.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Giratina growled threateningly. Despite the fact that her annoyance was very quickly rising and turning into anger, Uxie seemed unconcerned as he analyzed the bookshelf in front of the two. After a second of searching, Uxie frowned to himself and darted off to a separate bookshelf, once again leaving Giratina in a stupefied and annoyed silence. The Ghost/Dragon type growled louder, the force of the noise shaking books throughout the library.

 _I've had enough of these kinds of shenanigans from Latios,_ she thought to herself angrily as she flew in pursuit of Uxie. _Now I have to deal with this know-it-all doing the same thing? Like heck I will._

"Why won't you talk to me, Uxie?" Giratina asked with an undertone of sickly-sweet danger to her voice. Uxie's countenance did not change, although his brows did twitch together in slight annoyance. "I might need your _help,"_ she added, putting a disgusted emphasis on that last word, hoping that it would be enough to distract Uxie from… whatever he was doing at the moment. Although the sprite didn't turn away, he did scoff at her comment as he pulled out a book and leafed through the first few pages.

"I'm not talking to you because there's no conversation to be had," Uxie said bluntly, his subdued voice barely reaching Giratina's indignant ears. However, the basilisk realized a basic, infuriating fact about what Uxie had just said; it was true.

However, Giratina refused to let the smaller Psychic have the upper hand, so she snarled a bit and replied sharply. "Fine," she said with traces of venom in her voice. "Just stay out of my way." With a huff, Giratina turned around and began searching aimlessly for a book; the Renegade wasn't looking at one in particular, but she wanted to at least _appear_ busy, so Uxie didn't get suspicious of her actions. If the Being of Knowledge _did_ decide to question her, Giratina was unsure of how the conversation would go seeing as how _she_ didn't even know why she was prowling the library in the first place.

"Giratina, please leave."

The dragoness in question nearly choked on her breath at hearing Uxie's request. Anger quickly eclipsed her confusion, and she turned to face Uxie with a low snarl, tendrils brandished threateningly. The Being of Knowledge didn't glance up to acknowledge the Renegade's rage, but Giratina could see the serious frown that tugged at his face, and it gave her a moment of pause.

There was a depressed somberness to Uxie's voice, and the way he addressed her made her think that he had something on his mind… something that was sapping quite a lot of his energy. Giratina snorted to herself in both surprise and indifference. _Jeez, Latios must be rubbing off on me more than I thought,_ she contemplated in the wake of her analysis of Uxie's emotions. _I'm starting to pick apart the motives of a pixie that I've never really associated myself with before. I must be getting soft, damn Latios._ In an attempt to hide this newfound observant nature, Giratina scoffed and turned away from Uxie, pretending to scan through the rows of books again. Much to her dismay, it wasn't long before the Renegade heard the Psychic on the other side of the library say;

"I'm not kidding, Giratina. Leave now." This direct defiance towards her authority as one of the original four beings of the universe was enough to bring Giratina's blood to a boil. The enraged Ghost Legend whirled around to begin yelling at Uxie from across the room only for the harsh words to die in her throat at seeing him suddenly in front of her, his small arms crossed over his cheat and an equally cross look on his face. Before the Distortion Queen could compose herself, Uxie spoke up again.

"This isn't anything personal," Uxie said swiftly, obviously trying to keep his voice monotone. "I just need silence for this, and your scoffing and snorting and thinking isn't helping me at all." Giratina quickly flared up in rage, her tendrils flaring dangerously as she loomed over the smaller Legend, who merely glanced up at her with his closed eyes, clearly unconcerned about an attack. His indifference to her rage only served to make it that much greater.

"My _thinking_ is interrupting you?" she snarled threateningly, voice dripping with venom. "Who are you to think that you can just _invade_ my privacy and—."

"I told you, it's nothing personal," Uxie repeated, exasperation seeping into his voice rather quickly as his brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to continue, but the Being of Knowledge paused mid-thought for the second time that day, and a brief ray of confusion caused Giratina's rage to falter and fall flat on its face.

"Actually…" Uxie's voice trailed off for a moment, before he teleported away, leaving Giratina alone in the Hall's library for a moment. She blinked at the empty space before her in confusion, wishing that she were a Psychic so that she could peer into his thoughts and understand what was going on in that big brain of his. After a second or so more, Uxie suddenly reappeared, and in his small paws was a white and red book. He flipped it around so Giratina could see the cover. It read;

 _ **Immortals  
**_ _A tale of eternity and how it ends  
By: R.W. Yang_

Giratina's wine-red eyes flickered back to Uxie's analytical countenance, not quite grasping what point the Psychic was trying to make. It was, after all, a _book._ As if he was reading her mind _(you'd better not be, shrimp),_ Uxie spoke again while tucking the decent-sized novelette under one of his short arms.

"What do you make of it?" he asked with genuine curiosity. "I'd prefer if your answers are as honest as possible." Giratina snarled quietly under her breath in frustration. She had come to the library Arceus _knows_ why, and now she was stuck playing mind games with Uxie while her mind was still confused and at conflict about (oh, how she cringed at thinking it) _Latios._ Unfortunately, Giratina had seen for herself that Uxie wasn't one to let people escape one of his questionnaires so easily. She decided that she'd probably get him to leave her alone much quicker if she just played along.

"It's a book," she said flatly, a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth as Uxie frowned. _If he's gonna make me suffer through this, may as well make him suffer too._ "Is that answer _honest_ enough?"

"Your answer certainly matches with my assumptions about your intelligence, Giratina," countered Uxie swiftly. "Is that all you can figure out?" Giratina felt a spurt of anger fly through her at the brazen insult to her pride. What made it worse was the fact that she _knew_ Uxie had said that just to rile her up, but she couldn't help the rather powerful urge to prove the Being of Knowledge wrong.

"It was written by Reshiram, with her clever little alias "Reshiram White Yang". It's probably one of her gushy _romance_ stories that Latias likes to read, and the characters probably _sit under the moon_ and _count the stars_ and all that nonsensical crap." Uxie took in her response and hummed in thought, opening _Immortals_ and leafing through a few pages, obviously in search of something. After a second or two, Uxie fingered a line and recited it aloud;

" _Knowing and remaining in denial is one thing, but not even knowing to begin with will unravel you faster than you ever imagined,"_ quoted Uxie, and he glanced up at Giratina (although he couldn't really _see_ her…) with interest written on his countenance. "What do you make of that line?" Giratina snorted quietly and rolled her wine-red irises.

"Without context? I'd probably say Reshiram was trying to make some deep comment about loving someone without realizing it (probably Zekrom…), but it came out as a bit forced and over dramatic. Did I get that about right?" Uxie chuckled quietly to himself, and Giratina's mouth tightened into a frown at the Psychic's response.

"Thank you, Giratina," he said after a moment, his voice turning more serious. However, Giratina still wasn't quite prepared to simply let Uxie get away with laughing at her comment.

"Listen, Uxie, will you get to a point already?" she snapped acerbically. "I'm just about on my last straw here, so do you actually have something to say, or will you just keep pestering me with your little literature quiz?" There was a brief moment of gratifying silence as Uxie's mouth closed and he hovered in front of Giratina, as if he were honestly trying to decide whether or not he had something worthwhile to say. Unfortunately for Giratina, what he _did_ decide to say happened to be exactly the _wrong_ thing to say.

"You're in denial."

Giratina didn't even give the comment time to echo in the large library before growling fiercely. "What?" she asked in indignant, angry shock. "How do we go from book quotes to denial? I'm not in denial!" Uxie raised a brow at her harsh reaction to his comment, no doubt _amused_ instead of _terrified._ Giratina noticed that there had been a significant rise over the past day or two of 'mon who seemed to be no longer terrified of her. _I really should look into that. Do I have laughing gas coming off my body?_

"You're in denial about being in denial," Uxie said in an amused fashion, still not fazed in the slightest by the Ghost/Dragon's threat display. "I hope you can appreciate the irony in that." Giratina scoffed at this newest comment from the Being of Knowledge, already quite fed up with the smaller Psychic. She turned to leave, and was halfway to the door when Uxie spoke up yet again.

"You're in the same situation I'm in."

Giratina froze in her aerial tracks, tilting her head back the slightest bit so she could peer behind her out of the corner of her wine-red eyes. "What do you mean?" she asked in a much more subdued voice, and for once she was genuinely curious as to what the Being of Knowledge had to say. _Now I'm curious? About Uxie? Arceus, I must be going insane._

"You think it's hopeless, don't you?" asked Uxie somberly, floating right up next to her side, tilting his head up to "look" at her. "You and Latios?" At the mention of the blue Eon's name, a sudden uncomfortable tightness made itself known in Giratina's chest. _Wonderful,_ she thought to herself sardonically as she felt her breathing dampen the slightest bit. _Now just hearing his_ name _brings these ridiculous feelings on me. I really need to get myself checked._

"I don't know what you're talking about," Giratina muttered down to the Knowledge pixie, who simply snorted in amused skepticism.

"You quite obviously do," Uxie pointed out while crossing his arms. "If you didn't, you wouldn't have stopped." Giratina grit her teeth and growled quietly, anger boiling up within her for the umpteenth time since beginning her infernal conversation with Uxie.

"So _what?"_ she snapped at the petite Legend, turning her head to pierce his yellow skull with her violent glare. Much to her satisfaction, Uxie seemed to (temporarily) be frozen in fear. "Don't think I'm ignorant to what you're trying to do here. You're trying to find comfort in other 'mon, and you're so desperate to do it that you're willing to try and console _me,_ the ruler of Hell. This is all about Azelf, and we both know it."

At the mere mention of his counterpart's name Uxie flinched, something that Giratina didn't fail to notice. _Maybe I can finally turn the tables on this exasperating, lovesick fool._ "Yeah, it's not that hard to see through you, Uxie," Giratina continued, venom dripping from every word that spilled from her alabaster lips. "You've been fawning over Azelf since the beginning of time, and yet she's rejected you every single time you've professed your love to her. So what do you do? You just decide to up and _erase her mind."_ At hearing the accusation, Uxie flinched as a wave of fear swept over his countenance. It took Giratina massive amounts of self-control to resist the urge to grin wickedly. _Finally,_ she thought. _Now I have_ him _on the ropes. Much better._

"Oh, you didn't think anyone would figure that out?" sneered Giratina. "Gee, I wonder what everyone was thinking when you, the _only_ one on the Council who can erase minds, comes in with Azelf saying she's _lost_ her _memory,_ and you have no idea how. Absolute Tauros crap." Uxie seemed to come to his senses, because the fear on his face quickly morphed into defiant annoyance.

"We tend to do strange things for love," Uxie growled out, his tiny fists clenching in the beginnings of rage. "Such as ignoring your duties, for instance." Giratina didn't miss the brazen shot at her character, and she wasn't one to simply let a comment like that slide. The Renegade turned to fully face the Psychic beside her, her tendrils and markings pulsing a threatening red.

"You'd best think very carefully before continuing that train of thought," Giratina growled quietly, lowering her face so her snarl was but a few feet away from Uxie's. "With all the time I spend in Turnback with hostile spirits, I have nothing to do _but_ complete my duties." A faint smirk wove its way onto Uxie's face at hearing the basilisk's argument, prompting another low growl from said Ghost-type.

"That was true until a few days ago," Uxie said smartly, and Giratina had a faint suspicion about where the Psychic was taking his argument. She didn't like it, not one bit. "Judging by your reactions to my questions, everything down in Turnback changed when Latios came, didn't it?" Giratina didn't feel like justifying his guess with a response, so she settled for giving the pixie an intense glare. Much to her chagrin, Uxie took this as a sign to continue. He sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead with the tips of his tiny fingers, suddenly looking like he hadn't slept in days.

"You're right," Uxie said, and Giratina's eyes narrowed in suspicion at hearing that. "About Azelf, I mean." _Ah,_ thought Giratina in a bored fashion, _Now I'm going to become his relationship counselor._

"I'm not looking for pity, despite what you think, Giratina," Uxie said with a hard edge to his voice, and the basilisk in question winced in spite of herself. "I suppose I thought I could find some answer to my problems in the library, a place of knowledge, and I suspect you came here for that as well, although you don't know it." Giratina blinked in surprise at Uxie's proposal. _He thinks the Distortion brought me to the library because I was looking for answers? I don't want to think about what_ problems _I might be trying to answer…_

"I should have known it would never be that easy, though," Uxie said with a hollow chuckle. There was a soft pause between the two of them, and Giratina caught herself hanging on the edge of Uxie's words, like she was _curious_ about what he'd say next. _I'm slipping so much it's not even funny. I should beat Latios up when I get back to Turnback for making me soft. Grr._

"It's pretty obvious that I'm not the bet advocate for relationships, Giratina," Uxie said somberly, provoking a jolt from the Ghost type. _When did this suddenly become about relationships? Is this what Uxie's been talking about this whole time?_ "But I feel like it's my duty here to say… don't sell yourself short. You've got a heck of a chance to get this right, and you shouldn't give up on it, never." Uxie turned to resume his scanning of the bookshelves, as if he hadn't just tried to deliver a motivational talk. After a few seconds, however, Uxie let his head thump against the shelf tiredly, and he sighed once again.

"You have a chance to make the _both_ of you happy, Giratina. Don't give up on it." Giratina shook her head, trying to ignore the annoying spurts of hope that were resounding through her chest as she turned to exit the library. _What does he mean,_ both _of us being happy? He can't possibly be comparing his situation with Azelf to mine with Latios. We couldn't be more different. Besides, I've never thought of the see-through idiot like that before. Pft._

"You have a chance, too." Both Legends were caught off guard by the words that came out of Giratina's mouth just as she reached the threshold of the library. She didn't quite know why she suddenly felt the urge to speak up. After all, Uxie and Azelf were none of her business. And yet… something compelled her to return the favor Uxie had done her. It wasn't compassion; she was simply evening the score.

 _Yeah, you can keep telling yourself that, honey._

"Take your own advice for once, Uxie," Giratina muttered over her shoulder. "It's obvious _you_ won't give up, but it's not so clear for Azelf. Don't let _her_ give up on _you."_ With those final words, Giratina phased through the library doors, trying to rationalize to herself why she had decided to leave Uxie with that advice.

Back inside the library, Uxie smiled a bit to himself. _I guess she_ does _have a shot of pulling this off,_ he thought as he continued his search of an answer. _I'll be rooting for you, Giratina._

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

 _In a young man's house in Kanto…_

Blue leaned against the wall of his room, staring at his line of five Pokeballs; his five most trusted partners. Not many knew it, but Blue actually liked to keep only 5 'mon in his party unless there was a battle regulation requiring the full six.

 _I'll never really forget that tough son of a gun,_ he thought to himself with a dry chuckle, crossing his arms. _I probably would have replaced him eventually, but… him dying changed everything for me. It gave me the drive to become the Champion, and that's what I did…_

A flicker of movement caught Blue's eye, bringing his attention to his open bedroom doorway. Standing in the frame, barely visible, was a smoky apparition that looked _exactly_ like…

Blue's eyes widened. "Raticate?" he whispered quietly, not quite sure if he was in some dream. The ghostly form of his old partner nodded once, carefully, then turned tail and broke into a sprit, dashing across the long hallway. Blue felt a sudden desire to chase after it; after all, it was a chance to say a proper goodbye to an old partner of his. He reached over to grab his belt of 'mon when he paused, staring at the red and white devices curiously. There was a brief silence as the young Champion considered taking them, before he shook his head and ran after the ghost empty-handed.

 _It's time I got my sixth partner back._

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

 _In an old man's house in Unova…_

Alder had been wondering how long it would take this day to come.

As he'd gotten older, he'd expected it to happen sooner and sooner… and now he was staring it right in the face. An odd illusion hung in the air before the space where the old man sat, cross-legged, and it looked for all the world like his old partner. A warm smile crossed the man's face as he politely nodded to the ghost, and he was pleased that the specter returned the gesture.

"Have you… come to take me?" asked Alder quietly. The ghostly form of his Volcarona nodded once, it's dim wings flapping gently in a non-existent breeze. Alder stood with much effort, his chain of Pokeballs dangling from his shoulders.

"I suppose I am ready. Please, Volcarona, show me the way once more."

The deceased Fire type turned and glided hastily out of the door, not waiting for her old master to catch up. Alder chuckled, rolled his shoulders, and stared after his old partner.

"Still making me work for things, huh girl?" With that, the former Champion broke into the final run of his life; one that would take him to the threshold of death and beyond.

The Champions were called by their partners to Turnback Cave. There, they would be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice for the chance to be with their partners again, and also to save Latios from Darkrai's malicious scheme.

The call of champions had been sounded, and answering it would show Latios, Giratina, and Darkrai the true price of a soul.

 **This is the last bit from me for now. I hope you enjoyed the second part of this story; I know I have! Now to get to work on finishing it…**

 **Remember, reviews are always welcome!**

 **Thanks for sticking with me,**

 **EyeofAmethyst07**


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